Long Slow Rains and Spiritual Growth

Today, Tuesday 8/17, was one of those days when there were showers and rain all day long. From last evening and through the day and on into this evening there was pretty much a steady light to moderately heavy rain.

Being out and about today took me back in my memories to similar days as a child. This time of the year, a day long rain was somewhat of a luxury. It marked a time to take a break in the routines of farm life. It was a time to catch up on mending broken equipment, fixing fences, running errands, preparing for the fall harvest as well as tending to relationships with neighbors and family and even have the luxury, perhaps, of an afternoon nap. I remember day long rains with a certain amount of fondness, a warm reflective feeling in my being.

While today didn't actually provide a farm type break, it did provide a mental/spiritual/emotional break from a long string of hot days, some of them unbearably so. It did provide a respite for lawns and soil cracked with thirst. It did offer an opportunity for a slower pace going from here to there -- the streets were extra slick for some reason and the resulting accidents slowed the pace of traffic -- sometimes. It did provide an opportunity for this reflective moment of fond memories of my feelings on days gone by.

My reflective moments took me, actually, to some thoughts about how this kind of rain is so good for the thirsty earth. Unlike most of the rains this summer that came in such downpours that much of the water ran off. The earth was no more able to drink in all that moisture than you or I are to grab a thirst quenching drink from the proverbial fire hydrant. But this rain is different. The earth can drink up most of this nectar from the sky. The lake has hardly risen, the creek remains within its banks. My back yard is not a lake. The earth is swallowing the gift of the rain at about the same pace as it is falling.

Somehow, my spiritual growth follows this same pattern. When I find myself "dry" (so to speak) sometimes the mountaintop experiences aren't satisfying long term. When I find myself dry I don't find a downpour to be particularly refreshing. What refreshes is the long, slow, steady work of the Spirit, the never failing but enduring love of God and sipping from the Word of God. What brings growth and fruit is the consistent day by day attention I have to the presence of God in the everyday, routine surprises in life.

I was blessed by the rain today. I was blessed by the showers of God's love and grace. I was blessed by fellowship with other Christians. I was blessed to be able to drink up God's presence at a pace that didn't overwhelm me. As a result, I've take another step in the gradual process of being a little less of me and a little more of Him.

The rain showered on you today. God's love and grace showered on you to. And you took another step in the process of this adventure we call life and faith. I hope your step was as wonderful as was mine.