Tears of Joy Sets Us Free

Positive psychology and spirituality principles are not about us living a carefree life with happy smiles plastered on our face continually. The reality of our life journey, places us in hardships and times of sorrow from time to time. Some of us have more hardships than others. Some of us have higher mountains to climb and lower valleys to go into. The good news is we don’t have to stay in the dark valleys or remain on the arduous climb up the mountain. We can have times of exhilarating joy on the mountain top or restful joy in the valley meadows by still flowing streams of refreshing delight. The concept of positive psychology principles is to help people have more joy in their journey as they move out of times of grief and sorrow.

A song that comes to mind on this topic is “Tears of Joy” by Tuck and Patti. It is a simple song with a pleasant jazz feel and joyful energy. Take a listen to it by clicking on the title and soak into your spirit what they are saying in the lyrics.

Tears of Joy by Tuck & Patti

I can see the trace that sorrow has left upon your face
And being realistic I know there are some things that
Time just won't erase

But still I'm coming to you gently and there's one promise I can make
Beside of every tear that sorrow has left you Tears of joy will take their place

Tears of joy – hey Wash you clean Come on and let them set you free!

Hey sometimes I know life can make you feel like you don't know what to do
But once there comes a time when you must settle down And feel the presence of the One who loves you

Oh yes I'm coming to you gently and there's one promise I can make
Besides of every tear that sorrow has left you Tears of joy will take their place

Tears of joy – hey Wash you clean Come on and let them set you free!

If I could fly I'd fly straight to you Surround you with my love

You'll be crying tears of joy – yeah Wash you clean Come on and let them set you free!

Improvisation:

Come on say, and let those tears set you free say come on now you'll be crying tears of joy
Oh tears of joy You'll be crying tears of - you'll be crying tears of joy
Say joy now joy real joy say tears Tears of joy yes
You'll be crying tears of joy ah - they say that tears can wash you clean
And set you free set you free You'll be crying tears of joy
I'll surround you with love You'll be crying tears of joy.

The song starts off looking at the reality of life. There are times of sorrow and we can often see it visibly in people’s countenances. Some of those times are so full of deep grief they leave scars that time can not erase. We can move beyond the time of grief but sometimes there are physical scars or emotional ones that on certain times of the year trigger memories of the person or event. I know that is true in my life as there are days of the year when I can remember some of the difficulties I faced or important people that passed away.

When dealing with friends or family going through times of sorrow it is important to listen to the phrase, “I’m coming to you gently”. In sorrow people need the caring presence of others not glib “You’ll get over it” or “ The Bible says all things work out good!”. In the depths of sorrow the individual is not ready to see any good in the situation. In the midst of the confusion of these times in our life there is time to set time aside, and to settle down and rest. It is then that we can feel the presence of the One who loves us. I capitalized the word One as for me in my spiritual worldview, I look at it as being open to experiencing God’s presence during difficult times. I do not know if that is what the song writer meant. Holding on to God in difficult times has been a great help to me in the times of sorrow I have experienced.

Now what about the promise made in the song, ” Beside of every tear that sorrow has left you Tears of joy will take their place”. What does that mean? It probably means something different to every person reading this. I remembered in Brownsville after a hurricane would pass by with the stormy rains a clear sunny day would come. Many times after a hard rain storm there is joy in seeing a rainbow. These can become metaphors for the harsh reality of our difficulties in life. After times of tearful sorrow, tears of joy can come into our life. The time period is different for all of us. The writer uses tears of joy to move in to wash us clean. As we move into the phase from sorrow to joy we experience a refreshing of our spirits as they have been cleansed. We are then set free from the chains that sorrows bind us with. Free to live with joy on the journey. Again remembering on those certain days memories will come but in the renewed freedom even those days of remembrance can be celebration of what the person meant to us if it was a time of grief. Or if it was a disaster that affected us, the days of remembrance can be a time to reflect on what we learned to improve ourselves through the experience.

Reflection – Reflect over one of your times of sorrow. How did you move into a “tears of joy time” through the experience? Think over how the difficulties in your live have affected your life journey. Also think through the lyrics, “If I could fly I'd fly straight to you surround you with my love”. How can you show love to someone going through difficulties?