A Morning for Pondering

While I am not one prone to climbing a hill and flying a kite during a thunderstorm, or even walking across the farm during those stormy moments when thunder and lightning come in the same second, I must confess to enjoying the rain.  When I was a student at Young Harris College, I would often take walks across the campus on rainy nights.  Later in my middle years when running was a part of my routine, rain never kept me away from lacing up the running shoes.  At the farm the front porch is a favorite place to sit and be a part of the rain that is falling.  

As anyone who has ever dabbled in the dirt knows, rain is a blessed gift.  The story of Elijah reminds us what happens to the earth when the rain ceases to fall.  The creek, or wadi, from which the prophet drank his water dried up and worse than hard times came upon the land.  And even as too little can be a serious problem, we know, too, that too much of it at one time can bring flooding, destruction, and even death.  Jesus spoke of the rain falling one the wise and the foolish.  Indiscriminately, the rain falls.  Sometimes it comes and sometimes it does not.  Sometimes it rains buckets and sometimes a thimble is enough.

From my window there seems to be much to ponder as the rain falls.  This morning it seems to be speaking about the nature of life itself.  We have no real control over our life.  It unfolds bringing seasons of tears and laughter.  It is unpredictable.  It is full of things not understood.  Some speak of it as mystery.  Perhaps, life can only be rightly understood and lived when we see it as a gift.  Though we live through the dark stormy days, the sunshine comes.  There is no darkness which can overcome the Eternal Light.  There is no power, not even death, which will keep us from finally reaching the glorious light of Home.