What Speaks More Eloquently?

There is a sacredness in tears.

They are not the mark of weakness but of power.

They speak more eloquently than 10,000 tongues.

They are the messengers of overwhelming grief,

of deep contrition, of unspeakable love.

 (Washington Irving)

I am reminded of the Tao— “both named and nameless”— eloquent and mysterious in its reverence for life. Such is the “sacredness in tears” that “speaks more eloquently than 10,000 tongues.”

Tears fall into crevices long forgotten or never explored. Water is the giver of life; tears restore. What can be more sacred–more reverent–than these messengers of love and loss?

I’m quick to associate tears with grief and contrition–a cleansing–it is only in my later years that I know the joy of tears, their unspeakable love—for me, more nameless than named.

Such love is the source of sacredness to which all tears flow. It is a river of joy, the source of 10,000 things, knowable and unknowable.

“Mystery is the doorway to all understanding” is what I learned in the Tao. My imagination was and remains the only way through. Rarely, do I understand. But that’s not the point. Not anymore. The mere experience is enough.

It needs no name. There is no need to speak of it. It is the heart that fills up and spills over, the well of unspeakable love.

Empty yourself of everything.

Let the mind become still.

The 10,000 things rise and fall,

while the Self

watches their return.

They grow and flourish and

then Return to the Source.

Returning to the Source is

stillness, which is

the Way of Nature.

 Lao Tsu
Tao Te Ching

 Aim for Even posts offer equanimity a dose at a time. No day or dose is ever the same, even if the aim is. You may read about the origins of Aim for Even here or on this site’s About page.