Rain

I sat on a porch last night and watched the rain fall. I could hear the rain coming long before it arrived. I could even smell it coming. Finally it came. Softly at first and then with strength. At one point it came in sheets almost sideways. Rain intrigues me. I love to sit on a porch in the evening and watch it come. On nights like last night it seems to bring life with it. The leaves seem to welcome the rain. The trees sway with the wind but it is the rain that makes the roots strong and the fruit sweet. Today marks the 19th year since my brother John was killed on a motorcycle at the age of 20. That day was the strongest storm I have been through to date. It was a storm I did not see coming. I did not smell it on the horizon and the strength of the wind threatened to snap me at times. But, during that storm the rain did fall. It fell nearly daily for 2 years in my soul and has been falling off and on since. I get at least a sprinkling every July 18th. Rain softens the soil. Rain makes what fruit there is sweet. Rain changes me. I love the sun but it is the rain that makes me grow. So, it is the wisdom that comes with some age that makes me pray for rain every now and then. It is trust that makes me welcome the smell of rain on the horizon and at times I even raise my eyes to the heaven and let the rain fall on my face. Rain doesn't scare me as much as when I was younger. I think it was Annie Dillard who said that every bush was aflame with the presence of God. So, as I sat on the porch last night, it was not just rain I saw but the Presence of the Lord of the rain.