Crying Tears — a Blessing?
Tears are actually very important, always present in healthy eyes. There is a system to drain them off. They help keep eyeballs clean when dust or something intrudes. When tears are brought on by emotions, creationists and evolutionists have very different speculations.
Yes, I mentioned speculation on both our parts. Similarly, blushing is a problem for evolutionists, but it may have a specific purpose given by our Creator.
Some animals mourn the loss of a mate or one of their group (crows recognize faces and may seek vengeance), but they do not shed tears like humans. Emotional crying is unique and quite puzzling.
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| Cowboy Bob Sorensen, tough guy crying, mirror selfie modified at PhotoFunia |
When we have tears of sorrow, a sympathetic person may say, "That's right. Let it all out." Well, it's not like draining a reservoir; tears replenish. However, "let it out" is psychologically and medically valid! They run down our face (as shown in my left eye, above) when the usual drainage system is overwhelmed.
I am not ashamed to say that since my beloved Charlene died just over three months ago, I've been using a prairie schooner-full of tissues. There are many kinds of grief, and people may experience the death of a spouse with different ways of processing it. I don't wish this pain on anyone. Cherish those you love while you have them. Charlene and I will be reunited, and we will be with Jesus and other loved ones.
Christians have speculations about why God gave us tears — beyond the mechanics of keeping the eyes working, of course. Tears from emotions actually have a different level of hormones and proteins. Some folks think that tears were made to be seen as to prompt comfort from other people. (I've wept on the telephone to strangers dealing with my wife's business, sometimes in public, but people have been kind and patient. Sometimes uncomfortable, though. Most of my crying, I'm alone. I often cry out to God.) Crying can help reduce the pain, and this could very well be a gift from God. Tears of joy seem to be an enigma to everyone.
Over the centuries, people have proposed various reasons and sources for our tears. Many see crying as the result of an evolutionary process, for physical health as well as for discouraging human predators by making us seem harmless. However, Darwin was convinced that emotional tears serve no purpose. He considered tears to simply be caused by facial muscle contractions, “as purposeless as the secretion of tears from a blow outside the eye, or as a sneeze from the retina being affected by a bright light.”1 This renders tears an exception to Darwin’s rule that useless processes are eventually discarded by evolution.
The rest can be found at "Tracing the Truth About Tears."