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“Here comes the rain,” I said softly, almost in a whisper, but she heard it from across the room. She came and bent over, with her head just behind mine. Her breath warmed the back of my neck, while the cool air rising off the thin pane of glass caressed my face. I could see her reflection in the window, just where the dark clouds were gathering above. She was pensive.
I love the rain. Everything about it speaks special messages to me, but especially its power to change the landscape, to suddenly cover every bit of dry, dull existence and transform it into a wonderland of possibilities. To undo the pain that harsh, hard circumstances have created. Rain conveys energy, the excitement of change, endless new vistas, and a fresh beginning. You could say that rain is my friend.
Rain can fall as gently as Autumn leaves, with the faint patter of nature’s quietest cymbals. Rain can nourish the Earth, soaking and bubbling into the soil with the goodness of life’s most indispensable nutrient. All the plants are happy when it rains. The trees seem to extend their branches farther, soaking up the blessing. The green things of the earth laugh, and turn their faces upward to the sky.
The animals cavort and leap in the rain, and some throw themselves into the mud puddles that the rain creates, eager to get wet--almost crazy for water--now that the long, dry period is over.
I see the kids on their way to school, splashing in the rain. I used to do the same thing, going right down the middle of the gutters, stomping in the puddles, with no thought for how I’d look when I got to school, or what Mom would say when I got home.
Rain makes many people depressed. When the clouds fill with darkness, and the sun is gone away, their hearts chill, and their minds are filled with memories. But, I know a secret: The sun is on his way back to Earth; darkness cannot shut him out for good. This is the time for me to let the rain cleanse my inner landscape, to be ready for newness and refreshing. For, rain carries away all that has contaminated the sky and the earth, running in rivulets, in streams, in broad rivers to the ocean. And another kind of rain is gushing down the lanes and byways of my heart, pouring into the channels which lead to the sea of God’s forgetfulness. This rain carries with it an inner certainty of God’s love and care.
I know also that rain can seem cruel. Rain can undo all that you have built up, thinking that you built on a firm foundation. Rain will try the lashes with which you’ve tied your hopes and dreams, to see if they are really as secure as you imagined. But, rain is doing you a favor, if you can grasp that. For, it is only when what you loved comes tumbling down that you can see that it was built on false assumptions. Then, like the Earth, you rebuild stronger, on surer things. When the rain and the wind strike hard at you, when they buffet your works and they cannot move them, then you know that what you have is real. A house built on a rock cannot be moved by rain.
Yes, rain is my friend. But, as I sat gazing at the transformation taking place on the other side of the window, my thoughts were on the atmosphere inside. I sighed, wishing it were as easy to clear the air between us as it was for the rain to clean the air outside.
I felt her warm hand on my shoulder, and I involuntarily glanced up at the window, where I could still see her reflection. Could she see mine? I wondered. There was a smile spreading on her face, as gentle and glowing as the sun which was even now beginning to peer out between the clouds.
“I’m sorry.” she said softly.
“I’m sorry too.” I replied, turning my head. “You know something?”
“No, what?” she said, and her smile grew wider. She knew what was coming.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
As we embraced, I thanked God for the rain of His grace, which is able to help us see, and to make life sweet-smelling, and bright again.
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