The Prophetic Work of Tears
We must learn how to weep over violence in all its forms. Violent words and violent weapons are destroying us.
When a member of our family was murdered, we encountered every kind of response you can imagine. Some were helpful, many were not. That is why we asked anyone who wished to visit to first read a small book called Tear Soup. Why? Because people in grief do not need our philosophies — they need our compassion.
The word compassion comes from the Latin compassio, meaning “to suffer with.” Until we are willing to suffer with one another, we cannot heal together. We must learn how to weep. Before you speak, write, or post — please, weep. For when we weep with one another, we call each other back to love.
In our spiritual direction program, students read The Tears of Things. Why? Because when people are in their most disoriented states, they need to be reminded of the most trustworthy truth about themselves: they are made by Love, for Love. Only then will our society begin to let go of its hatred for one another — a hatred that so often springs from self-hatred.
And today, we weep on 9/11, we are reminded again of how violence shapes both memory and imagination. We weep for Charlie Kirk. We weep for Melissa Hortman. We weep for Gaza, for Ukraine, for Colorado — and for every place where lives are cut short and love is betrayed by violence. Shea Pataja said it this way:
“The way you alchemize a soulless world into a sacred world is to treat everyone as if they are sacred until the sacred in them remembers.” (learn and practice with us here)
Our tears join with the world’s grief, and in them we remember that we are bound together in suffering, and therefore bound together in hope.
As Richard Rohr says:
“Tears often will, though: first by changing the one who weeps, and then by moving any who draw near to the weeping.”
We must learn to grieve prophetically — to see the world, even at its darkest, with the vision and energy of the prophets.
And yet, Rohr says that discernment is never simple:
“Only God knows if an opinion or a person is genuine and true. Or, as Jesus puts it, ‘You can only tell if one is a true prophet by their fruits’ (Matthew 7:16). That is baffling, because you only see the fruits after the prophet has acted or spoken. One group’s freedom fighter may be another group’s oppressor. One group’s prophet is another’s deceiver. One group sees fruit; another sees poison. Only those rooted in God’s love can recognize the true prophets from the false. And who are they? This, too, is why we must not take our judgments too seriously, until we have listened carefully to wise and loving voices — including those with whom we disagree.”
Finally, if you want the science of tears: Research shows that tears can help release stress hormones and toxins, reduce tension, and improve mood, providing a tangible way for the body to process emotional pain and restore psychological balance (Harvard Health). In this light, tears are not only a language of grief but also a tool of healing.
So today, before you judge, speak, or write — try weeping.
And if you cannot weep
sit with someone who weeps
someone who resists violence in words and deeds.
Pray, and ask God to break your heart for the world God so loved.
Every. One.
Invitation:
Spend four transformative days with us this January and discover how the Enneagram Harmony Model remembers and amplifies the Sacred — the Imago Dei (image of God) — within you! Click here for more info-
Enneagram Certification is also available, with 40 CEUs for professional development.