Let it Rain

In Texas, we do not get a lot of rain. Last year we were suffering from severe drought for several seasons, then all of the sudden the skies opened and just didn't stop. We got all caught up. Our lakes and reservoirs refilled. Our grasses were green once again. It's interesting how much people complain, even so. Even when the water restrictions are lifted because the rain is finally falling, people are opposed. We complain when it's too hot or the skies are not cloudy for too long; when it finally rains, washing away that dry season and all the cracks that come with it, we complain some more.

This week it's been raining since last week. I don't know exactly when it'll stop, but the Weather Channel forecasts it through the weekend that I'm supposed to be attending a wedding in Maryland. Hopefully the airline will not take the opportunity to cancel the flight.

I love the rain. I love running in it, dancing in it, watching it fall. I love seeing something different and refreshing, I love the mystery of how it starts and stops on its own time schedule. I long for it because it's elusive and I can't make it happen, not for any great desiring. It's a renewal, a hope of new beginnings. It promises a future of growth in the middle of a desperately long dry spell. It washes away the gentle soot that piles up over time, so slowly we don't even notice it until it's dripping off into murky puddles and falling down, back into the ground. Grime another day!

Today I imagined a bright, sunshiny world that had a period of rain at some designated point of every day. Wouldn't it be great? We could make all our plans around it! We would know just when to NOT walk outdoors with freshly curled hair. We would know how and when to tap those brakes on the road. We could take our lunch breaks at the perfect time to watch the droplets fall. No farmer would fear! No gardener would agonize! Every animal would know that a fresh opportunity for drinking and bathing was soon to come.

But that would ruin the whole thing. Weather -- we can't plan it. Even the most skilled meteorologists get it wrong, and then we berate them. When it comes to rain, we face one of the most basic, simple aspects of all life on this earth, worldwide, that we cannot control. Not one bit.

Maybe that's what I find so beautiful about it? It's comforting to me to remember that I am not the central power of the universe. Also, that whatever I plan may be changed by something small just out of my control. I like knowing that something bigger than my life is happening in this world. I am a small part of a bigger story. Very small, but very much a part of an important purpose. And thankfully, certain weather systems are in place to prevent me from getting too far off the beaten path of my purpose that goes beyond my personal plans and intentions.