I always liked the pitter-patter of rain as a child. For some reason the sound was always soothing for me. I used to lay awake at night when it was raining outside and listen to the sound of the howling wind and thousands of drops of rain, slapping the concrete sidewalk below and drumming against our flat, tar-papered roof. It would ultimately lull me into a deep, restful sleep.
I think that rain has the same affect on me now, even as an adult. When it is rainy I don't feel like going anywhere, or doing anything. I can enjoy just sitting and looking out the window with a roaring fire going in the background and relaxing. Better yet, I can enjoy taking a walk out in the rain. I was visiting my parents in Chester, the town in which I had been raised, the first time I did that as an adult. I covered myself from head to toe in rain gear and good water proof boots, and took a walk during a terrible rain storm.The streets were empty. Rain was pouring in sideways sheets. Large puddles where the gutters just couldn't handle anymore barred my way from one curb to the next. The intersections were small lakes and the narrow streets rivers. I quickly engaged them, with my water proof boots, and headed forward to my final destination. I got there. It was a small wooded area that used to be Washington Park, one of my favorite hang-outs as a child—before it was purchased by a growing university.It was different now, of course. I had not been there for almost 20 years, but some things were the same. There were still trees and a small, crooked, sand bottomed creek cutting through the grassy banks, where I had learned how to swim. There was a tree lying there on its side, as if it were there just to serve as a bench for me. I crawled out onto it and let my feet dangle out over the water and watched the small bubbles rise up and pop every time the droplets from the sky intruded into the creek, to spite its attempts to remain placid. It rushed violently, with its new unwanted inhabitants, down to the Delaware river. I have never forgotten the beauty of that lovely moment, nor the feeling of peace that I felt just sitting there and watching. I had always thought of doing something like that; it was the first time that I actually did.When I encounter rainy days now, I notice that they are beautiful. There is a sort of melancholy, peaceful feeling about them, that seems to draw out my own innermost feelings, so that I can look at them and explore them—contemplate on my own feelings and learn more about myself.
Another good thing about rainy days is the knowledge of their contribution to the betterment of life. Rain replenishes the earth, it sustains the life of every plant, insect and human being, it cleanses the atmosphere and leaves everything—every street, every house, every building, looking new and clean. Maybe sometimes when we have storms in our lives…when it seems that the rain is pouring in and beating us down, we can find our best rain gear—whether it be a system of philosophical thought, a religious practice, or curling up in the corner with a good book—cover ourselves from head to toe in it and go walking out in the rain mentally, so to speak. That way we can explore our thoughts, our dreams, our hopes our feelings and our life circumstances, and be cleansed and renewed by any of the storms that life has to offer.Dr. John W. Gilmore is a writer, a spiritual director, a certified healer, a martial arts instructor, and an ordained minister. To read more articles like this visit this ezine or our free Practical Spirituality Journal at http://www.dswellness.com.
There you can explore our website in detail and our absolutely free Circle of Creation Spirituality and Stress Reduction 101 at our cyber school.A Return to Being Human Religiously, Dr. J. W. Gilmore
Keyword : rain, truth, learning, life worth, now, solitude, silence, inner peace, lessons
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