I hate rain. Well that is not completely true, because in the summer there is nothing so delightful as a cooling shower during a heat spell, or the sound of rain falling softly, as you drift off to sleep.
My family lives in the rain forest region of North America, where almost every day in winter gets rained on (I affectionately like to refer to the late fall to late spring as monsoon season).
One day, w a y back on Spring Break, I headed out for a walk. It was just me, the beast and an open trail. It was a v e r y open trail, because it was raining and most sane people were staying in the coffee shops. I was just desperate to get out and get fresh air in my lungs, and to stretch my legs.
When I began my walk in the rain, I was not singing (like Fred Astaire), but I was grumbling to the beast about the rain. I was feeling like it was a cruel punishment to have rain fall on my break, when I was finally free to get outdoors. I was grumbling … significantly.
Then the strangest thing happened, precipitation was continuing at a great pace, but it’s form started to change … to snow! Not just a few tiny flakes either, these were flakes the size of … Frosted Flakes cereal! They were enormous! They were landing, and staying, and accumulating, and fast.
The next part of my walk was effortless, happy and wonder-filled! I was singing, I was trying to catch snowflakes on my tongue (this is so not a good idea for one, such as myself, who is naturally clumsy, while one is walking), I was smiling, and walking at a much faster pace. All of a sudden my dark and depressing environment was changed into a wonderland of beauty, and that changed my internal environment.
As I drove home, smiling broadly, I found myself thinking that my hubby would NOT be excited with the weather change to snow, but he would see it as a curse! Much like how I see the rain.
Which then reminded me of a verse in the Bible. When I got home, I found it:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Matthew 5:43-45
I think maybe, other than talking about the sun and rain, the verse is a reminder that we are not called to Christ to live an easier existence, or one of our personal preferences. We are called to live a life of loving the unlovable of our lives … people especially, but also external circumstances as well.
In a way, we need to learn to make lemonade with the lemons we are handed in our life. I wish I had learned this lesson earlier … I might not have had times of feeling hard done by, or stuck. I wonder how some of the sour people and situations in my life might have ended up sweet, like lemonade, if I had been able to look at people and things through the eyes of love (aka. just add sugar).
back for us).
Filial cannibalism is the act of eating ones own offspring. Creatures from birds to fish to spiders (they should eat more of their young) all practice this horrendous act.
But then we are, ever so quickly, reminded of what our heart really feels about these offspring of ours. We would do anything for them, we would even die to save their lives.
I saw the quote to the left the other day, and pondered it’s words and message.
Impressions come in many forms. There are the impressions we make on others, either by how we look, or act, or how we make them feel. There are also impressions, like the ones that imprint a physical lasting mark, like a tattoo or a scar.
scar, forever there to remind me of that vow I made with my words.
Many of us awake today, January 1, 2012, on the same day that we went to sleep. Whether we were at a rousing house party, a midnight mass, dancing with friends, drinking a warm cup of milk alone in the quiet of the night, or watching the ball drop in New York City (live, or, more likely, on the tube) we saw the new year in.
The website, freedictionary.com, defines ‘disowned’ as “to refuse to acknowledge or accept as one’s own.”
itsawonderfilledlife 