Turns out I'm a pluviophile. Yep. Self diagnosed but pretty sure it's accurate. I've been long afflicted and am in no way interested in a cure. Before it's misinterpreted as something vile, a pluviophile is a lover of rain; someone who finds peace of mind during rainy days. Don't get me wrong, I'm a summer-sun-lover too. Could be I'm conflicted or fickle... or an equal-opportunity-weather-appreciater. Rain, however is my first love from way back. Just this morning, sitting beside a window cracked to better listen on this rainy Thursday, I remembered that I used to write poetry. So I dug out my mishmash of paper bits stuffed into a few folders and trapped in a hanging file or two. Scraps of verses and life haphazardly curated. A couple of college literary magazines printed and paper-staple bound with offerings by one Judy Chandler. I've schlepped them around with me ever since high school, this collected works, but never bothered to read much. I was not surprised to find several odes to the rain. "There are but a few things with which I have no patience. One being those who run in the rain." "On rainy days I can cry all I want and nobody notices." "There is no musician so proficient as the rain mastering the hood of my blue slicker while I stand silently in the storm oblivious to all save it's intricate symphony." Did I mention I was the tiniest bit dramatic and maybe just a tad moody?
Rain in scripture can be symbolic of God's blessing or discipline. The first recorded rain lasted for 40 days and nights. It rained and poured for 40 daysies, daysies. And it wiped evil-doers off the face of the earth. When the people were about to enter the Promised Land, God promised good rain: "So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul— then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied." (from Deuteronomy 11). God withheld rain until the people turned to him. And he sent rain to prove his authority over gods of the earth. The rain falls on the just and the unjust.
Maybe I love the rain so much because, when it rains, there's a turning to the Lord. To be blessed. Or be corrected. To slow down and sit quietly by a window and just breathe. And to know that God is pouring himself out for our good. Sigh.
Comments