Lenten Day Twenty-six: Sappho

March 14, 2024

“What cannot be said will be wept.”  Sappho

This quotation holds a beautiful truth from Sappho, an ancient female poet from the island of Lesbos who was widely regarded as one of the greatest lyric poets of her time.  It touches me because I’ve experienced the truth of it.

In our culture, generally speaking, men try not to weep because they are afraid of looking less than strong, and if they do happen to lose a tear, they often look embarrassed, swiping it away quickly.  Women may weep, but not too much because then we might look weak or make others uncomfortable.  Some people cry easily and others never cry at all.  We’ve probably all heard someone say, or we’ve said it ourselves, “If I start crying, I will never stop.”  Most likely, crying is exactly what is needed.

I’ve also observed that when we cry in front of someone else, we often apologize.  Yet crying isn’t a sign of weakness or the mark of an overly-sensitive person; tears are a gift from God.  They are a catharsis, a washing clean, an emptying.  Tears are expressions of love too deep for words.  Or expressions of grief, or hurt, or pain, or joy that words cannot reflect.  If we cannot find God anywhere else in our lives, we will find God in our tears, often, I believe, crying with us.

And, tears are holy, if the number of references to them in scripture is any indication:

I am worn out from my groaning. All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. – Psalm 6:6

Hear my prayer, Lord, listen to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping. –  Psalm 39:12

My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” – Psalm 42:3

You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your record? – Psalm 56:8

So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. – 1 Samuel 30:4

Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night for the slain of my people. – Jeremiah 9:1

Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly. – Matthew 26:75

I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. – 2 Timothy 1:3-4

Consider the story in Luke of the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears: As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. – Luke 7:38.  Jesus said that her tears were “a demonstration of her great love” (47), beyond words.  Instead of scolding, shaming, or condemning her, he blessed her with peace.  And, we know, that being human and divine, Jesus also wept at the death of his friend Lazarus, over the city of Jerusalem, and in the Garden of Gethsemane.

As I sit with this quotation, I give thanks for tears, for my own ability to cry, and for others who have trusted me enough to let their tears flow, too.  Love is the container that holds all tears.

Blessings ~ Rosemary