(unedited)

“it’s raining, it’s pouring
the old man is snoring
he went to bed
and bumped his head
and didn’t wake up in the morning”

rain as a kid was full of excitement, joy, and… worms. lots of worms exploded from the dampened earth. we jumped in puddles, splashed one another, and rolled in the mud. rain transformed a landscape into a playground. possibilities felt limitless, even though nothing had truly changed fundamentally.

as an adult, rain feels much the same. giddiness erupts from my pores like worms from the ground and i am consumed with delight. rain is a personal blessing of attention from God, in my eyes. no matter what is happening – the good, the bad, the ugly – rain brings healing to my soul. although nothing has truly changed, my view is transformed.

nothing on this earth is eternal, everything is temporary. health is good one day and the next one receives “the diagnosis”; one day you’re in a relationship, the next you’re not; one day has plenty, the next is scarce. such is life.

and yet…

still we hope, because we have the opportunity to hope in something beyond the ephemeral. perhaps, there is something hiding underneath the surface and we just need a little bit of rain to unearth it.

“…He sends rain on the just and the unjust…”. depending on who you are, this verse is perceived as a threat or a blessing. rain causes serious damage, creates scars on our majestic mountains, or floods areas where there was once life. however, rain also causes crops to thrive, flowers to come to life, and thirst to be quenched in the desert. life is good right now and that is enough for me. when it rains, the latent vibrancy of my surroundings emerges, and i am struck by the glory of God made manifest.

ah, what a gift rain is – what a gift to be alive.