in the midst of the storm
Around a week ago after a little edging on from a friend I took a short walk in the pouring rain. I was talking with a friend online who is especially fond of the rain and mentioned that it looks like it was about to start raining. She responded that I was lucky as there was a drought in her area, to which I responded by asking if she wanted me to go out and get wet in it for her. Which surprised her, responding if I wanted to and asking if I was serious, when my mind shifted from joking about it to thinking why not, its not like I had anything better to do. A few minutes later when the rainstorm was in full force I went outside and took a ten minute walk around the backyard in the pouring rain. When I came inside I stopped by the computer on my way to the bathroom to tell her that I was back and completely soaked to which she responded “Yay! Lucky you!” Which turned out to be the literal truth as I found every bit of my t-shirt, shorts and even my boxers were fully saturated in rain water when getting changed into pajamas in the bathroom before coming back and finding her response which I initially found a bit surprising.
Since then, for the past week I’ve keep on coming back to her “Yay! Lucky you!” comment, which has turned out to be a lot more meaningful to me the more I think about it. I believe now I have come to the point where I understand how she views being out in the rain as a type of spiritual experience. At first I tried to pray in the rain like she had previously talked about. However I soon gave up being unable to maintain my focus, as the rain was too distracting, but then again I also do terrible with breaking into small groups for prayer within the same room as I find the other groups too distracting so it might just be me. When I stopped praying, I realized that I had it backwards as the rain was from God and the attempt at prayer was distracting my focus on what was going on around me and for the rest of my time outside I focused on my senses knowing that it was from God’s creation. I focused on the feeling of the rain falling on me and running down my hair and face and how I felt the last dry parts of my clothes become moist and then completely saturated. I remember feeling the wet grass massaging my bare feet as I was walking around and in a few places the slightly slimy mud squishing between my toes while walking through the few bare spots in the lawn. Listening to the rain falling on the leaves of the trees and smelling the clean fresh smell of the rain. For a minute or so I stood under the side of the house where the rain gutter was clogged feeling the force of the water pouring over me while wondering if that was what it would feel like to stand under a waterfall. Ultimately the blessing worth getting excited about was not getting wet, which one could also accomplish by taking a shower fully clothed but by experiencing the rain through: sight, sound, smell and touch.
Anyway looking back on the experience got me thinking about the God and nature themed things are becoming more popular in recent years yet I am starting to wonder if that is really what people are after. Instead I wonder if what are really after is a substitute or at least a filtered version of the real thing that lets one remain in control of the experience. Yet it must be asked if it is even possible to truly experience God while remaining in control. Not to say that there is not a place for documenting and enjoying the beauty of God’s creation with photography and video, as it allows people to see things that they would not get to see otherwise just that it falls short of experiencing it in person. Just as I’m sure people who have gone on back country backpacking trips might find the paved nature trails many parks have as something less than the “real thing”. True is one is extra critical they could say that I still had a certain aspect of control given that I was never more than 20 yards from the house and could go in whenever I wanted; in addition to only considering going out as a possibility because I knew it was a warmer summer rain before I left the house. Although it was unfiltered in the midsts of the storm for a time, which made it more meaningful in a way than previous times when I was sitting out on the front pouch under the roof to watch the rain. Does this mean that one is unable to appreciate God’s rain without being out in it long enough to end up with wet underwear? Of course not but it does not rule out that there is something when enjoying general revelation becomes a spiritual experience when approached with the right mindset which may or may not involved getting soaked.
