As soap is for the body...

As soap is for the body, tears are for the soul (Jewish proverb)...

After Brother Jeff's message tonight, I felt compelled to go to the alter at the close of the service. His message was not particularly stirring or convicting tonight, but I just had some things I needed to pray about. As I knelt, I saw the most beautiful thing...tear-stains on the alter.

The tear-stains were most striking to me. There weren't just one or two. There were many, many. Big, cloudy water spots sprinkled the hardwood steps leading up to the stage in the sanctuary of the church.

If only they could speak audibly, surely these tear-stains would tell of why they fell on the alter. They are the fossils of souls being cleansed, sins forgiven, and sacrifices offered. They are evidence of God meeting with man, again and again. Some of the tear-stains must memorialize some one's grief. Some flowed from conviction, and others flowed from physical illness. Of course, some tears flowed from thanksgiving and utter joy. All of the tears that stained the alter, however, streamed from hearts stirred and hungry to commune with The One and Only, the very Creator of emotion itself, Jesus Christ.

I used to hate to cry. I'm an ugly cryer, if you know what I mean. I turn red. My eyes swell up.

I don't mind crying anymore.

Tears are a special part of being human.

Tears are temporary, so we better enjoy them while we can.

"...And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away..."