Rain

I love the rain. I really do. I think it's one of the most wonderful things God can use to accent a day. There's a giddy sort of joy that wells up inside of me, and as I walk through it, I can't help but to smile. I remember in high school, me and a few friends would just stand in the rain. While everyone was huddled indoors, we would just stand there, with no umbrellas, smiling to each other, as if we had this great little secret that no one else understood.


Rain got a bad rep somehow. People step in puddles, get wet and get perturbed. You won't find a sad moment or funeral scene in a movie that isn't accompanied by the ever convenient rainstorm. This image we've come to associate as tears falling from the sky as the heavenly hosts weep. Rain becomes that gloomy symbol for all things depressing and down right emo.

That's not the rain I know. The rain I know is a blessing. The rain I know is a gift. It seems all over-dramatic, I know, especially to anyone who harbors animosity towards rain. But that's how I feel.

Ever notice how everything is cleaner after a rain? The air tastes fresher and you can see further out into the horizon. The leaves on the trees just shine, and the greens that adorn each bit of flora is that much more vibrant. The sun shines clearer, and the blue of the sky is deeper and more... well blue! It's as if God touches up creation every now and then, and in those times when you don't notice it's beauty as much, you're given the treat of rediscovering something wonderful.

Best of all, the rain changes me. I always watch the clouds recede feeling better, and closer to God. Just as in a mass when a priest would sprinkle the congregation with holy water, I imagine as if God Himself is sending out His holy water over me. As if in a baptism, I imagine the rain falling on my head, my heart, and my soul. It washes away my sin and shortcomings. It consecrates my life once more for God.

The rain becomes God's way of reminding me, "I have forgiven you because I love you, now go out to love as I did."

In Christ,

Daniel