Rain
You
visit the earth and water it;
you
greatly enrich it;
the
river of God is full of water…
—Psalm
65:9
I looked at the weather
app on my iPhone this morning: “Snow in the mountains; 42˚and rain in the
valley.” Great! I love rain. It makes
me want to find a quiet place, pick up a book and idle the hours away.
David saw something more:
Rain is a sign and a sacrament, pointing us to God's eternal love for growing
things. Rain is God "visiting the earth" to water and enrich it
(65:9).
Showers sweep across the
plowed ground, "watering it's furrows, settling it's ridges, softening the
dirt clods, blessing it with growth." Rain is God, "walking"
through the earth like Johnny Appleseed, leaving behind His bounty: "The
paths on which He walks overflow with goodness" (65:10, 11).
Here's a dimension of
truth most folks have lost. It is a vision, a perspective, a way of looking at
things. Put simply, it is the capacity to see through things rather
than at them.
Nature is a signpost
pointing to God, but tragically, most people only look at the sign. C.S. Lewis
described our foolishness as a "dog-like" way of seeing. If, for
example, you point at your dog's food dish and say "Eat," he will
stare at your finger, confusing the sign with the thing signified.
A little thing like rain
reveals the face of God if we have eyes to see it. The little hills, the
pastures, the valleys take in God's love and "shout for joy!"
(65:13).
So do I!
Sweet
the rain’s new fall
Sunlit
from heaven,
Like
the first dew fall
On
the first grass.
Praise
for the sweetness
Of
the wet garden,
Sprung
in completeness
Where
His feet pass.
—Eleanor
Farjeon
David Roper
9.22.17
E-musings are archived at http://davidroper.blogspot.com
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