There are memorable incidents in the bible which we may say God notices our tears. One is in the story of Christ's weeping at the tomb of Lazarus. Jesus wept when He saw the others weeping -"When Jesus, therefore, saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping, who came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled" (John 11:33-37). He wept because he noticed their weeping.

Another incident is found in the story of God's dealings with aged King Hezekiah. Hezekiah was sick and about to die, and Isaiah was sent to tell him to put his house in order. Instead of doing this, however, Hezekiah began to weep. He cried to God, saying, "I beseech thee, O Lord, remember, now, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight" (II Kings 20:3). The bible says that he wept very much.

There are other Old Testament texts which tell us that - not only that God knows of our tears, but also that He is touched by them. David, for instance, on the occasion of the many sorrows he has had as the result of the deeds of his enemies, he cries out to God, "Thou numberest my wanderings; put thou my tears into thy bottle. Are they not in thy book?" (Ps 56:8). We know that the Romans frequently had a little glass bottles called tear bottles, in which they collected their tears. But that is not what David is thinking here. The only bottles he knew were large leather bottles, the kind that Jesus later termed wineskins. He places them up in remembrance before Him.

As we gather today in a prayerful celebration for our sister we bring to this celebration our own grief which becomes a reflection to those who grieve and cannot articulate it in a way that can be heard by others. Let that divinity in our humanness be a complete openness to the full truth of our experience and surrender to God.

Each of us has experienced to be wounded and after having gone through the painful, often difficult time of life-relationship, choice or decision, it is possible that we become healers to others. Let us be supportive of those who are grieving, those who are living through them, and to help whenever possible to keep the focus on what is essential: new life as we walk very gently and lovingly with the Lord. God bless you.

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Every culture has its stories of the hero and heroine, journey, trials, and death. In Greco-Roman culture, the family and procreation within the family functioned as a means of control

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