The Pool of Tears

“Nothing stamped with the Divine image and likeness was sent into the world to be trodden on, and degraded, and imbruted by its fellows.”  (Abraham Lincoln)

“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.”  (Carl Jung)

Have you heard about the Celtic paradise?  I don’t know where I came upon the story, but it is described as a place where the souls of the redeemed are filled with a joy that is so joyful that it feels like pain.  The light in this Celtic paradise is so bright that it literally blinds those who look upon it.  Unable to look upon that great light, the redeemed are led to a pool which is fed by all the tears shed on the earth and there they are told to stoop and bathe their eyes.  Only then are they healed from their great gladness, and only then can their eyes withstand the great light.

As I ponder the story of this Celtic paradise this morning, I think it would be good for us, living in this country, to find our way to that sad little pool of tears.  We are the most pampered of all people upon the face of this earth.  We eat better than anybody else (though often the wrong stuff, which is why we lead the world in obesity).  We consume more of the world’s resources than any other nation upon the earth.  Our life styles (no matter what our income) are affluent and opulent compared to those of other people in the world.  We ought to be filled with a joy and happiness beyond measure—the bright light in which we live day to day ought to blind us.  

I think it is time for us to find our way to that sad little pool, fed by all the tears shed upon this earth and bathe our eyes in it.  Perhaps then, our eyes would be opened to the ache and agony of the world around us and we would be saved from our selfish happiness.