It has been raining so much these last few days. A few nights ago there was a thunder and lightning storm. I LOVE thunder and lightning. I could watch them for hours. There is just something so majestic about the lightning. I can see why in the ancient world the ligthning was attributed to God. Anyways... Last night the wind was so strong that it blew the wooden dividers that protect our deck right off the hinges and six floors down into the parking lot. I don't htink anyone or anything wa hurt, but I am not sure. Part of me loves rainy days. i love going to sleep when it rains and I love reading books when it rains, but I don't like waiting at the bus stop inthe rain. I don't like having to dress professional when it rains. Oh well. I will try to focus on the parts of the rain that I love.
I live near a long thin park called Parque Forestal. It's really quite a nice park and it has a long stretch of a lane for riding bikes or jogging. And since I have a fear of riding bikes in this city, I jog. It's really pleasent. I usually listen to radioDisney on my mp3 player and jog along to Jonas Brothers, Beyonce, or Julieta Venegas. Great stuff. Yesterday on my jog I noticed that the trees were beginning to change. Fall has finally arrived and I am glad for the change. But as I was jogging through the falling leaves, I began to think about how much I like fall. And I had this special moment when I realized that I want to be here in Santiago, jogging through this park for many falls to come. After the past few weeks of cultural adjustment being a little more painful than normal, this was a nice thought to have.
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cherished by this wonderful, unintelligible perfectly innocent speech,
the most comforting speech in the world, the talk that rain makes
by itself all over the ridges, and the talk of the watercourses
everywhere in the hollows! Nobody started it, nobody is going
to stop it. It will talk as long as it wants, this rain. As long as
it talks I am going to listen.
-Thomas Merton
(Trappist monk; see http://www.merton.org/)
Langston Hughes
Let the rain kiss you.
Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops.
Let the rain sing you a lullaby.
The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk.
The rain makes running pools in the gutter.
the rain plays a little sleep-song on our roof at night -
And I love the rain.
http://mymiscellanies.blogspot.com/2006/07/hang-out-evangelism.html