When I think of seeing my dad in heaven, I imagine a joyful reunion with much laughter. I imagine he may have a new joke or two, or perhaps want to show me some really fascinating aspects of heaven that nobody would have ever thought of here.

Maybe we’d talk about football, or a few of the more bizarre events that happened on earth after he died in 2019.

When I think of seeing my mom in heaven for the first time, though, all I can imagine myself doing is crying. To see her whole, standing up straight and tall, completely free from all the fears and worries that hampered her on earth. To hug her, to tell her how much I love her, to thank her for not holding the self-centeredness and self-absorption of my earlier years against me.

It seems like all of that would trigger an onslaught of emotion that could only be expressed in tears. It’s the only possible reaction I can imagine.

But the Bible says there won’t be any tears in heaven, right? There it is, near the end of scripture: “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will no longer be any death, there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain.” (Rev. 21:4, NASB)

Perhaps this has to do with tears of grief, pain and sadness. But what about tears of joy? Will our heavenly bodies not include the ability to be so happy we could cry, as the saying goes?

I kinda hope not. But let’s not take my word for it.

In his book Heaven, Randy Alcorn writes that Revelation 21:4 “primarily addresses not tears per se but the tears coming from injustice and sorrow.”

As a result, “We might shed tears of joy in Heaven,” he explains. “Can you imagine joy flooding your eyes as you meet Christ, for example, and as you’re reunited with loved ones? I can.”

We are designed by God to be emotional beings, Alcorn says, and while our feelings have been “bent by sin,” they will “forever be straightened again when God removes the Curse.”

In other words, we will be able to feel healthy emotions intensely and freely, in a way that reflects our creation in God’s image. Maybe we’ll cry actual tears, or perhaps our heavenly bodies will express emotion in a way we can’t even envision right now—a way that is different and infinitely better than what we experience here on earth.

The truth is, there are some things our human minds simply can’t know. As my dad once told me, we’re sort of like caterpillars contentedly munching away on tomato plants, with no possible way to imagine the transformation that’s about to happen to them.

“A caterpillar just can’t understand butterflies, even though it’s going to be one,” he explained. “The Bible says we don’t know what we will be like, but we will know what we will be when we see Him.”

In the meantime, we rest in knowing that “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” (I Cor. 2:9, NKJV)

And we look forward to reunions with loved ones who have gone before us that are joyous and beautiful, tears or not.

♥ Lois

This post is part of a collection called Help for Parent Loss. To read more, please click here.