The Greek Tear Jar

Good morning everyone!  I have decided that this Blog will be about the very special and holy tear jar.  When I went to a Bereaved Parents, USA conference a few years ago, I learned about the tear jar.  Each parent was given a tear jar at their table with the following explanation: 

In the dry climate of ancient Greece, water was prized above all. Giving up water from one's own body, when crying tears for the dead, was considered a sacrifice. They caught their precious tears in tiny pitchers or "tear jars" like the one shown here (lifesize). The tears became holy water and could be used to sprinkle on doorways to keep out evil, or to cool the brow of a sick child.
The tear jars were kept unpainted until the owner had experienced the death of a parent, sibling, child, or spouse. After that, the grieving person decorated the tear jar with intricate designs, and examples of these can still be seen throughout modern Greece.
This ancient custom symbolizes the transformation that takes place in people who have grieved deeply. They are not threatened by the grief of people in pain. They have been in the depths of pain themselves, and returned. Like the tear jar, they can now be with others who grieve and catch their tears. ~Pleasant White, PhD

I have since learned that these tear jars are so sacred that people have painted on them and given them to people they know who have lost a child.  One was so precious--they hand painted so small and intricate that you needed a magnifying glass to read the words.  The Lord's prayer was there in its' entity.  Simply awesome.

Today may you mourn well that you might live well,
Delain