This world is a “valley of tears’ as we recite in the Hail Holy Queen prayer.
The other day, after a particularly long and frustrating day, I cried some tears.
It was not because anything was terribly wrong – it was simply that I was tired and probably a bit hungry and just altogether upset at the end of a long hard day.
And when that happened I realised that I was simply overwhelmed by the everyday and simply overcome by all the things that had added up during my day.
And after crying those little tears of mine, I felt a little better and was able to get on with my day and finish things off with a little more dignity than I had previously had.
And I have been thinking about that day because it was – at the time – just a really hard day for me. It was not the end of the world. It was not permanent. It was not a catastrophe or a disaster. It was instead, a difficult day spent under difficult circumstances and I just had to muddle my way through it so that I could end up doing something that was semi-useful and make some sort of positive impact in my life.
And I have been thinking about the impermanence of that difficult day and the impermanence of those tears I cried. You see, they went away. After some time, I did not need to cry any more tears and I did not need to feel quite so overwhelmed. After a good night’s sleep and a fresh set of eyes on the problem, I was in fact able to address my whole perspective differently and I was able to understand that life did not need to be quite so difficult or quite so overwhelming.
And that impermanence is the greatest gift I could be given in my sinful state. You see, even if the worst thing in the world happens, it is not permanent. Even if the whole world ends and I need to start again from the beginning, still it is not permanent. When the Blessed Virgin lived on this Earth, she cried tears. When God the Son lived on this earth, He cried tears. When the Saints have lived on this earth, they have cried tears.
This world is a “valley of tears’ as we recite in the Hail Holy Queen prayer. And this is significant. Because in recognising the tears that I cry on this earth, I am also able to recognise that those tears do not cause me to have a permanent problem. They are a temporary problem. And that temporary problem is the result of a lifetime of sinfulness. And a little bit of patience with a problem like that means that I am able to understand how to move forward with God in the forefront of my mind.
And knowing that today, I feel free – free to cry a few tears – for they are only temporary in this Valley of Tears…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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