“The Lord God will wipe away the tears from every face…”  When we think of tears, we tend to think of moments of pain, sorrow, hurt, loss. And for some of us, that may be something that is on-going, has always been, will never change. Tears have become part of life, routine, the way it is. Somehow there always seems to be tears of sorrow, tears of grief, tears of suffering, tears of loneliness, tears of regret, tears for no reason at all. For some of us, the tears have to be hidden, tucked away – a smile must cover the wounds. There is no other outlet; we cry a river on the inside. We drench our hearts rather than our pillows. Our souls weep bitter tears of agony, of defeat, of weariness, of isolation – tears that go unnoticed – tears that remain disguised on the inside. I recall growing up and hearing “you better not cry or I’ll give you something to cry about.” Tears were discouraged, not allowed, forbidden.  In our youth we hear “big boys don’t cry” – “big girls don’t cry.” As  adults we hear mockingly “don’t be a cry baby” – “be a man” – “real men don’t cry” –  “don’t be so dramatic” – “it’s not that big of a deal.” Some of us cry inwardly and perhaps our tears are displaced by anger, rage, confusion, emptiness and depression. Perhaps we are all cried out or too tired to cry. In either case and in all situations God is always ready to help. He is always there to comfort us, to wipe away our tears and to console us with a word of encouragement and to help us move pass the pain, the sorrow, the hurt and the loss.  In my young old age, I’ve learned and experienced the comfort of a tear, the healing power of a good cry, the freedom of not holding it in, the joy of letting it go, the gift of being vulnerable, the grace of being consoled, the love of God when he wiped away every tear from my heart and gave me hope. Tears can help to remind us that we are not invincible rather we are at times defenseless, helpless, unprepared and weak. And that’s okay because God is there waiting for us; ready to console us in his grace, ready to consume us in his love, ready to hold us in his arms, ready to wipe away every tear and bring a smile to our face. Fr Ivan