HELLO! 

Let us press on to know the Lord; The Lord appearing as sure as the dawn; The Lord will come to us like the showers, like the rains that water the earth.” Hosea 6:3

Last Night the Rain Spoke to Me (Written by Mary Oliver)

Last night the rain spoke to me slowly, saying, what joy to come falling out of the brisk cloud, to be happy again in a new way on the earth!

That’s what it said as it dropped, smelling of iron, and vanished like a dream of the ocean into the branches and the grass below.

Then it was over.

The sky cleared.

I was standing under a tree.

The tree was a tree with happy leaves, and I was myself, and there were stars in the sky that were also themselves at the moment, at which moment my right hand was holding my left hand which was holding the tree which was filled with stars and the soft rain—imagine! imagine! the wild and wondrous journeys still to be ours.

Brian Williams sent me this photo this morning. He told me it reminded him how the trees give thanks for the rain. I love the rain. Not least because only a few years ago we were praying for rain, our subdivision was evacuated with the wildfires burning unpredictably. My neighbours would repeat, over and over, “I will never complain about the rain again”. That did not last. Only last summer Kim overheard several people at the local grocery store asserting, “We DESERVE some sunshine”. It’s been raining quite a bit lately. I have become an expert at guessing when there will be 35 minutes of no rain, or very misty rain, so I can carry on with my daily three-mile walk. Most people consider rain an annoyance while I see it as respite or a gift to the trees and flowers and, thereby, us.

Yesterday it was predicted we would experience a lot of rain. I love listening to the rain, it helps me appreciate the workings of nature. Whether you tolerate the rain, pray for it in dry times, or just take it as it comes, try to consider it as a contemplative gift and listen to the message it brings as one more gift in the great gift-bag of God to us.

Peace, Kevin

PS This is the song I’ve been singing today. Perhaps our choir will sing it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTezClBolM