Ai Kandula Mata Denne

Why is it you give me tears, my Lord?
why do you give me tears?
The sorrow of others is seen so clearly through them,
just as through a lens…
is it to adorn my eyes that you give them?
Why the tears……..

Why is it you give me tears, my Lord?
why do you give me tears?
The garland of envy, rotting and ripening,
lodged in my eye…
is it to wash it clean away that you give them?
Why the tears…..

Why is it you give me tears, my Lord?
why do you give me tears?
In my dried-up heart, gone without
mercy or compassion or love…
is it to make the moisture rise again that you give them?
Why is it you give me tears, my Lord?
why do you give me tears?

This is a wonderfully thoughtful hymn that takes something we usually resent, our tears, and turns it into a question posed to God, then discovers in the answer a hidden grace. The refrain keeps asking, almost in complaint, “why is it you give me tears, my Lord?” It sounds at first like the protest of someone tired of weeping, but with each verse the question opens onto a surprising and beautiful purpose.

The first insight is that tears let us see others. “The sorrow of others is seen so clearly through them, just as through a lens,” and so the singer wonders, “is it to adorn my eyes that you give them?” Tears, it turns out, are the lens of compassion; only a heart that has wept can truly see another’s pain. The second verse looks inward at something ugly, “the garland of envy, rotting and ripening, lodged in my eye,” and asks whether the tears are given “to wash it clean away.” Weeping becomes a cleansing, rinsing out the jealousy that festers in us.

The final verse is the most moving. Confessing “my dried-up heart, gone without mercy or compassion or love,” the singer asks whether the tears are meant “to make the moisture rise again.” A hard, arid heart is softened by tears; they are the water that brings a parched soul back to life. What the listener is left with is a quietly profound reversal, the realization that the tears we ask God to take away may in fact be his gift, given to help us see others’ pain, wash out our envy, and soften a heart that had grown dry and hard.