Inspired by a visit to Mary's Well in Israel.

When I prepared to leave for Israel, my tour guide and close friend instructed me to find something to leave in the Holy Land. I was perplexed as to what that might be. As I walked the sites in the Holy Land…the Wailing Wall, the Sea of Galilee, etc…I couldn’t think of a thing that I had that I would want to leave in Israel. Of course, I was thinking of material things, but God had something much deeper to reveal to me.

It was at Mary’s Well in Nazareth that I realized the thing I needed to leave in Israel was my tears. An old, painful memory surfaced as we visited this ancient site. As my friend poured water from Mary’s Well over my hands, I felt of all the people who ever walked this earth, Mary knew the pain that I had felt. Tears, my tears, began to flow and I leaned against a wall in that place and let the tears and sobs release the pain and suffering that I had kept stored for so long deep within my spirit.

The wall that I laid my head upon was cool, tile. The design was very distinctive and that design is what inspired this painting, Tears at Mary’s Well. The pomegranate design looked like tears. The painting is not level, but on a tilt, just as tears would be flowing down.

If you are ever blessed to visit Mary’s Well in Nazareth, I hope you will be able to find comfort there, just as I did. Look for the tiled wall, know that God loves you beyond measure, and leave some of your tears behind, too.