THE TEARS

THE TEARS OF THE SOUL Tears are real, a viable experience with God. Our spiritual life looks like a tree which is watered by tears. Whoever looks for a union with God, has to leave everything behind and collect face tissues with tears. People cry during the confession. But these tears are tears of repentance or injured vanity? Tears are the apology in the hour of Judgment and will be the counterbalance to these we didn't do. As many good deeds as we have made, our sins are so many that nothing can save us.... than our tears, in this way the true repentance is being revealed. We are lacking in acquaintance with God. You should never say I cannot cry in my life neither I cannot be Saint nor I cannot do things. Our ambitions soar high.

TEARS OF JOY AND SORROW

The tears are a matter of faith; are a matter of Christ. Christ often cried....in the hour of His pray in the garden of Gesthimani...on the

way to the cross...during the Crucifixion. Someone can justifiably wonder well, Christ taught us to cry? What should we do? Should we cry or laugh? Should we be glad or sad? Are we sick, when we cry? Are we silly, when we don't cry? People abroad who cry are considered to be physically or mentally ill. We feel sorry and show repentance because we distressed God, we distressed man, we distressed our mother and father, our man. We don't feel guilty because guilt is an injured vanity. When we combine this sorrow with joy which comes from our hope to God, then we have both joy and sorrow. We know that whatever happens in our life God can see it, counts it and estimates it. We look at a person with a warm faith to God the moment he cries to be happy and the moment he is happy to cry. Happiness give way to sadness and alternate sadness with happiness. If you have a period of joy, you will expect something unpleasant. The same happens at a period of sadness.

DISTINCTION OF TEARS
Are our tears biological, emotional or spiritual? Biological: 1. Basic: They are produced to keep our eyes wet. The tear-fluid makes easy the movements of the eyelids. 2. reflexes: They are caused by irritation or by an inflammation of the eyeball due to the entrance of a foreign body or a harmful substance. Emotional/Psychological: They are produced when we get upset. Tears are considered to be a relief because they discharge the organism from the emotional tense. A person cries and is relieved. It is natural defense of the organism; Man distresses and he cannot do anything about it. He cries because he saw something bad or something happened to him. Emotional tears are distinguished to: Tears of selfishness: We cry when someone wounds our pride for example if someone doesn't talk to us nicely either behaves awfully to us or humbles our pride. Unfortunately, many times we cry for ourselves....we cry for wrong reasons. Woman's tears: A woman cries easily because she is more emotional and susceptible. If women know to cry rightly, all men of the world would have changed.

Weep bitter tears: Women weep bitter tears if their child makes rude remarks about them. They are able to raise the roof. Characteristic phrases: Why did he say to me this? He shouldn't have talked to me like that. The question But what did he say to you? Disarming is the answer I don't remember Manly tears: A perception is predominated Men don't cry. And then songs and proverbs come to contradict them and add that men are the first to cry. They press themselves not to cry but some time they are fed up and burst. Dopy tears: If someone can't cry because he is tough, he drinks alcohol. He wants to cry to relieve his feelings. So he drinks, escapes and relieves. These tears are supported by out-side help. Crocodile tears: They are tears of hypocrisy, hollow sympathy and deceit for personal interest. The poor crocodile cries hollowly to attract his victim...the same thing does man to make a profit on something. Spiritual: It is a relief, a salvation; it is the forerunner of holiness; a door before paradise. Tears come to our eyes, cleanse us and hallow us. Tears of faith: These tears are tears of joy. We confess our sins and cry. If we don't cry, the repentance isn't good. Repentance without tears isn't true. True tears of repentance: When a person is much afflicted by a sin and cries, he doesn't commit the same sin. The most powerful tears are the clergyman and priest's tears. If a priest doesn't cry, then the attractions of the world strive against him. Orthodox tears of birth and death:The cry will accompany us to birth and death. What is the orthodox way of thinking about tears? Someone said ''When you born everyone around you laugh while you cry. You should lead a life in a way so that when you die everyone around you will cry while you laugh. Misleading tears: They are tears of delusion. Someone things that he cries for his sins but in fact he doesn't cry for them. TO WHICH CHARACTER WE ACKNOWLEDGE OURSELVES (OPTIMISTIC/PESSIMISTIC/REASONABLE/SELFISH/SENSITIV E/TOUGH)

1. The optimistic laughs and sheds tears of happiness and joy. 2. The pessimistic cries for real reasons. He has a tombstone on his head and his body. He feels a constant pressure what's going to happen to me? What am I going to do? What will my children do? He hears about financial crisis and his hair stands on end. He worries How, why, who is going to help me? He constantly considers and bursts into petrified, salt tears. 3. The reasonable cries and confronts tears as a natural outburst. He doesn't go deep into his feelings and says Since I cried, lets calm down now. In this case there is a spiritual poverty. The man is petrified little by little. 4. The sensible man has an instinct and takes in the message of the world. Tears come to his eyes all by themselves. He has mercy on his fellow-man. God wants our compassion in the Gospel of Judgement, open our heart to people. Not only should we do penance, pray, go to church, to the gathering, to the monastery, to the vigil....What does Christ say? I was naked and you clothed me, I was hungry and you fed me, I was in hospital and you came to see me. The prayers, the repentances, the vigils make sense when the person is compassionate. 5. The selfish cries when his pride is wounded. Tears come to his eyes from external reasons, for example with words or acts that humiliate him. 6. The insensitive. When a person is tough like a stone, he feels nothing. Characteristic are the examples of his spiritual insensibility 1. He can eat and watch the children of Africa that are famished at the same time. He wonders why... and grabs the leg of the chicken and eats it. 2. He laughs with a person's mishap; he finds it funny that someone trumbled down the stairs. 3. He watches thrillers and isn't afraid.

THE AGE WE LIVE IN

Our age functions like a squeezer. Nowadays man hasn't got gist, namely he doesn't shed tears. These days man laughs easier than cries. Even if in the sound of tears he laughs; he finds tears funny. Even if he cries, he cries because his honour and dignity were affected.

STANDARDIZATION
Human relationships were standardized, they moulded their character, for example if you don't behave like this, you are not good, you are not our folk. People's hobbies were standardized, for example you will do this, this and this. Even the way we think was standardized, for example you will think like this; not differently, namely they suggest how you should think.

QUICK RHYTHM OF LIFE

In the age we live in we do everything hastily. We hastily comfort, we hastily go to hospital, we hastily give charity. We hastily show our love and our emotions. We do everything hastily; that's why man doesn't shed tears.

UTILITARIANISM
Nowadays man thinks practically, therefore there are no tears, tears are off. When you receive, then a sense of self-reliance is created inside you. I am fine now; from now on why should I cry, since I am pleased?

FEAR
Nowadays man goes through an experience of fear. In any way he tries to dispel his sadness. He laughs all the time and doesn't cry. He laughs but he isn't happy. He puts away his sadness, even if sadness is his help, on condition that, he feels sorry according to God. Then the tear includes both sadness and joy.

WHY HAVEN'T WE GOT TEARS?

The traditional way of life is missing. According to our orthodox way of life man has a withdrawn nature. Namely, he searches himself and he doesn't turn in on himself. It's a prolific process. Today we are afraid of searching ourselves, for fear of finding things we don't like. Why does man suffer nowadays? Because he doesn't know how to dig

out himself.
When we were children they used to ask us where is God? And we used to answer in heaven. It's wrong. Hold God dear. Gods kingdom is inside us. We don't have to look for around and far away, neither to look for Prophets, nor to look for Apostles and older people who do miracles. We cannot find the Kingdom of God in this way. The Kingdom of God will be found inside us, when we search ourselves and shed tears.

Life's worries deprive humans of crying. When man is busy with a lot of things every day, he can't cry easily. He hasn't got enough time to cry. He cries only if someone wound his pride. The gourmandism, the comfortable life are the reason why man is deprived of crying. If we want to bring tears to our eyes, we should suffer from our stomach, we should leave our stomach empty. If we leave our stomach empty and we feel hungry, we shed tears more easily. We are glued to the appearance of things. Many times we give priority to other things and then we pray. We don't pray and we wonder why we don't shed tears. How should we have tears? We can't push a button to shed tears! Nowadays man doesn't cry because he doesn't entrust all his hopes to God. He trust God but he relies on a politico-economic system or a powerful person. Man became tough these days. Why did he become tough? Because love ran cold. If we undergo a test...how much we love, why do we love, who do we love, then we will see if we love seriously or not. Love is missing. However, a person says to the other person I adore you. What does adore you mean? Adore means I give my life, I dedicate myself to you, your joy is my joy and I don't want to do anything for myself. Yet, when we are in difficulties, if someone insults you, you forget everything. You think But, since you adore me! Are you talking to me like that? Man became suspicious. That's why we haven't got tears. Man grows more cunning these days. Is it possible not to be like this? Is it possible

that our father can fool us with the things he says? Is it likely? And how can we shed tears, since man grows cunning? The Gospel advises us to be careful of people, ( <<Be careful of people>>) but at the same time we should love the whole world. I wonder if we can love our enemy. We can protect ourselves from the enemy, but at the same time love him. Man became heartless; he became tough. He watches thrillers, blood and murders, he watches others being shuttered with a chain saw...How can he shed tears? We became a bit self-seekers and selfish. Give me and I will give you...He hasn't got tears. We haven't got Holy love. Enthusiasm is missing. It's the usual question I pray every day, I study, I fast, I mind my thoughts, I receive Holy communion...Why haven't I got tears? Since I do everything and I have a method in my life. Warmth is missing, for example we have two people in love. Do they both cry for each other. Do they both shed tears of joy and sadness? Does he shed tears when his other half is missing? Is it likely we haven't got tears because our heart isn't boiling for God? I guess the true faith is missing. A person afraids of crying; He has a complex. Tears show a weakness, they show that there is a problem. He doesn't cry even in his home environment. Sometimes some people prohibit others from crying, for example men become angry when they see their wives crying and with a severe look they say Why are you crying? Stop crying now... We only think of ourselves. We think that we can do some things all alone. We are under the illusion that we are strong, self-reliant. The tears shake our strength and our confidence; trample on our dignity. We don't have a memory of death. We don't cry because we aren't afraid. If man was afraid of God in a sense of judgement, wouldn't he cry? We dismiss our opportunities of humiliation in our life. In order to cry, we have to humiliate ourselves. We pray My God, don't make me proud...make me humble. After a while someone may knock the door and tell us You should be ashamed of yourself behaving like that! We have just prayed and now we are upset who me? Are you talking to me like that? I'll show you! And now the chance of humiliation is gone. God doesn't let us to suffer like the Christian martyrs namely to be drawn by horses, to be

flayed with iron nails.

THE HUMBLE MAN

The humble man cries rightly. He cries saying his prayer. What kind of heart has the person who cries? Artichoke. Namely, pure heart. What does pure heart mean? Child's heart. The Gospel says that we should become like children,not in the mind but in the heart. You should not be foolish but you should have your heart in the right place.

TEARS ARE TAUGHT

A person needs an example. Tears are truly taught. Instead of searching for Saints. We had better search for people who cry. Instead of searching the Saint who foresees our life, lets search for a person who can cry for other people. We are the good merchant in a sense of giving something smaller and receiving something very important. Our Fathers say Give blood, to receive spirit, namely you should give the blood in your veins in order to receive the spirit; otherwise you won't receive anything. No gain without pains. Practical ways, to heat the man's engine. We make things too difficult to shed tears. The fasting is an expression of love. A person who leads an easy life, doesn't cry. There is no reason to cry, since he is self-reliant. We need to spend our free time to withdraw into ourselves .We should spend at least a half an hour or an our per day to or less to ourselves. We switch off the mobile phone, the lights. The studies of a spiritual book helps us to escape from this world, from our worries, our problems and our grudges. The memory of our sins is the next step. We bring back to our memory the actions that insulted the greatness of God. This procedure of withdrawal of our sins causes us a sensation. Then the prayer comes after. There is no need in too many words. An ugh to God is enough. An ugh is enough to cry. We should have a good cry and don't cry on purpose. We pray to God properly prepared, in order to find God. And when God comes, tears come to our eyes.

Tears resulting from the prayer. How can a person cry if he doesn't pray?

THE POWER OF TEARS

How much does a tear weight? People cry for people's relationships. We have all cried for people with whom we were related to. But have we cried for our relationship with God...which we dissolved? We have cried so much for people's relationships! How much have we cried for our relationship with God? Mother's tears have a great power. Virgin Mary came from tears....from their parent's tears She came into being. The Greatest Saints of our faith came into being from their tears. They cried for their sins and became Saints The baby cries because it can't express itself. The cry is the only way to communicate, for example I want a new diaper, to be fed, to hug me. In this way we should be before God. We should cry, to change our character. We are lacking in simplicity. When a familiar person shed tears before us for something he has done to us then we lose our bearings. The tears make us feel uncomfortable and even change the plans of God. Without tears how could we defend ourselves? Is there a repentance without tears? When a person cries, God changes. God doesn't kick him out, but He forgives him because he cried. This is the power of tears. The tears will compensate for our weaknesses before God. The repentance should be real, namely don't say only a few words God forbid! But also do deeds. The tears reveal the extent of the real repentance.

f. Ioannis