Crying and laughing

I read this in the Book of Q: “How fortunate are those who are crying; they will laugh."

It reminded me of a few things.

The first is that tears are a shower to the soul.  Children will cry unashamedly when they are upset or hurt, and they will dry their tears and get on with life.  With adults it is different.  Speaking for myself, I struggle to keep the tears of joy at bay at a wedding.  This can be embarrassing when everyone is having a good time.  I also cry easily when I watch a movie or opera that touches my heart, and there are songs such as The Greatest Love of All that somehow always make me cry. 

I am also all too familiar with the tears of having my heart broken.  This last happened when I was sitting outside of a hospital, while my son was inside after his second suicide attempt.  I felt completely powerless and so alone that there are no words to describe the moment.  I cannot say that those tears improved the situation.  Since then, I have chosen to pray for his wellbeing every day, and I can only trust that I will eventually laugh with him again.

The words from the quote also hinted at the complete balance in the universe.  When you cry, you will laugh.  That is not just a promise.  It is stated as a fact.  There is also the downside of this, which is that when you laugh, there is always something to cry about in the same situation.  If you want to live off euphoria and complete happiness, there is nothing to keep you grounded.  If you choose to live in misery, there is very little to uplift you.

Why is it then that those who cry are described as ‘fortunate’? I suspect the reason for this is that when we go through experiences that make us cry in physical or emotional pain, we have the opportunity to learn some wisdom. We need to ask these questions: who was I before this experience?  Who did I become because of this experience? Until you can answer this question by putting the realisation of your wisdom into words, the experience is not completed.  The words in the Book of Q tells us to have faith, because when we cry, we will laugh.  This sequence of laughing after crying is as inevitable as the sun rising in the morning after a dark night.

We are given the promise of joy after tears.

Namaste.