Dear Friends,
Rain. Lots of rain. It is raining as I write this. Weatherpersons are warning that we may receive a lot more rain. We should be ready for flooding. The humidity reminds me of Florida or Central America as I step outside the protected layers of my air-conditioned comfort. On our yearly trips to Huehuetenango, we grow accustomed to afternoon downpours which disrupt all attempts to accomplish anything other than watching the rain. It feels the same way in Nebraska right now. Weather has a way of teaching us we are not in control. If we ever thought we were, those ideas are washed away in the gutters along with the newly fallen leaves.
I really don’t mind the rain. I have lots of good memories of either playing in the rain as a child or curling up on the couch, listening to the pitter-patter sound on the roof while reading a good book.
I know talking about the weather is a Nebraska thing arising from our agricultural roots. Not everyone thinks it is an interesting subject. “Conversation about the weather is the last refuge of the unimaginative,” Oscar Wilde said. Excuse me, but everyone has an opinion about the weather, and it often leads to a deeper conversation.
Life is made of stormy and sunny weather, and we can choose how we are going to accept what God gives us. Sunny weather seems to give me energy and invites me to go outside and enjoy it while rainy or cold weather makes me more reflective and eager to find a place of comfort. What do you do on sunny or dreary days? Do you love to lie in the snow in the winter and create snow angels? Do you still splash about in puddles while sopping wet from the rain? Do the weather patterns invite you to see and act differently?
One thing I can say is the weather makes me think about God’s creation and its beauty. It also has of late been making me think about the power of fragile things. You may have noticed all the monarchs heading south during the past few weeks. They seem so fragile, yet they are flying all the way to southern Mexico. Unlike us, they do not fight the weather but ride the wind currents to their southern home. Perhaps, they can be for us a sign of how we are to be in God’s hands. Not fighting what God has in store for us but riding the Spirit’s wind into the wonder of the kingdom. Like them, let us enjoy the ride.
Peace,
Fr. Damian