Day 6--Rain

Hollyhocks after the rain 

I woke to thunder and rain this morning.  My first thought was of the garden: good, it's been dry. I appreciate that about gardening---it pulls me back to the outside cycles. Rain then is more than something that gets me wet.   Or something that I have to drive through carefully. Rain feeds. Rain refreshes. Rain sustains.  It's not merely an inconvenience or the harbinger of an unfortunately dreary day.

The ancients, of course, were deeply in tune with the weather, the seasons, the cycles of day and night. I think about that sometimes and wonder if the rampant sleeplessness, depression, anxiety, and stress of our culture would be helped by drawing closer to these cycles. Once upon a time, the cost of candles forced people to go to bed.  Then they woke up early because "daylight is burning."  The cycles kept them in check.  In our culture, we have few natural checks and can become completely divorced from such considerations.  We make our own days and nights. And many of us do this poorly.  We over-extend and exhaust ourselves when we ignore the natural rhythms and order that God built into His creation.

I too am up late some nights, so I'm as guilty as any and not suggesting we all go back to candle light. But, I do think we should be mindful of the built-in seasons and cycles of our bodies and the earth.  The hippies have that piece right. 

I love the droop of hemlock weighted down by rains.

Children do this naturally.  They jump in puddles and gather at the window to watch the snow fall.  As adults, I think we often lose our way.  We become immersed in the noise of life to our own distraction and destruction.  Who can deny that there is something instinctively comforting and warm about candlelight and fires?  Or that a childlike relief descends with the rain or snow?  In these moments, we sometimes step outside of our distracted selves and feel justified in enjoying the rain, the snow, the fire.  The stars outside bring us healthy wonder if we'd only stop to contemplate them.  We need room for contemplation even if it's uncomfortable at times.  And the garden brings refreshment after a rain.   These are all good rhythms for us to enter into...

When it rains, I can almost hear the plants sigh.  And after the rain, first the plants droop, but then right themselves vigorously, ready to get about their business again. We need to heed the same rhythms. In small ways, the garden can pull us back.

Ancient Jewish culture. like all others, was necessarily centered around drought, rain, and agricultural cycles. These are woven throughout the scriptures--again, I believe, to reconnect us. They are touchstones.

I can't relate to sacrificial offerings and dietary laws, but something in me instinctively relates to rain, plants, and seasons.  Physical rains and spiritual rains abound in the Bible, especially in the prophets.  Such gorgeous passages to linger in....

However, instead, I'm going to share one that challenges me:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers,what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?"  -Matthew 5:43-47

Yesterday I mentioned that God is a longsuffering and patient gardener. This scripture echoes these qualities.  He sends rain to all.  He is merciful to all on this earth. 

Honestly, if it were up to me, I'd do things differently. I'd surely differentiate--ha!  Not in a bad way now...I would be considerate.  I'd have some mercy.  But in my economy, the very bad weeds and the very unjust would get NO sun and rain. I'd let them wither and die because they don't deserve it.  They really don't.

sigh

But, thankfully and frustratingly for us all, God is not such a legalist.  Instead, He corrected that tendency in the Pharisees over and over again.  

He is replete with mercy and grace. He allows the rain to fall on the just AND unjust. 

The extent to which He sometimes allows the rain to fall on the unjust can even be a source of despair to us.  Why do good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good?   In His current economy, there is allowance even for this.  Why?  I don't know.   He acknowledges that the rain falls everywhere and that somehow must be enough for now. Life here is inherently unfair.  Got it.

I do know though that I too can be unjust.  I need His rain, His mercy, as much as the rest of us.  And he calls us to be extensions of such love.

To love our enemies.  To extend mercy.  To rain on the unjust they way He does.  

It's a high calling.  I often fail at it.