My Tears

 My Tears

I was travelling by bike, and a grain of sand found its way inside my right eye. Almost immediately, my eyelashes began to blink reflexively to prevent further dirt from entering the eyes.

The lacrimal tear glands in my eye gushed water, the mucous glands in the conjunctiva produced mucus, and lipid glands in the eyelid margin produced an oil. The mucus and oil mix with the watery portion of the tears to create a more protective tear film.

My son was on my lap, and my left hand gripped him tightly. The glands worked together to bath my eyes with the salty tears. Moreover, I believe that the antibodies in tears helped to prevent further infection.

My right hand was holding on to the handle on the bike seat. And almost immediately it gripped even tighter. My nose twitched, and the cheek muscles pushed the lower eyelid upwards to squeeze the dirt out.

My forehead stroked itself on my husband’s back to comfort the strained eye muscles. Slowly, my eyelid started batting continuously, and to my relief, the dirt was finally thrown out. The tears stopped, the grip loosened, and I told my husband what just happened.

I wish I knew how many nervous commands had to be passed to the so many different organs and glands in my body to be able to get this job done.

What if I had to think and give commands to each of these functions? What if they didn’t function? I would have resulted in a cornea abrasion resulting in some eye damage, and probably even lost the grip on my son who would have had a fatal fall from a moving bike.

This little incident made me wonder; maybe this is why Christ called the Church as His body?

Each component was working with coordination, solving problems, doing its job, not asserting importance, not asking for recognition, for the common good of protecting my life. Such a perfect unison, each one’s function is so unique, and yet each one is so loyal to me. When the eye hurt, help from every organ pitched in, no backbiting, no personal complaints. It was everyone's cooperative effort.

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:12

If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. 1 Corinthians 12:26

How great is God that he created an excellent model within each one to show us every day how to function as His body. Maybe that is why We are created in His Image.