Elegy of Rain



In the deserts of the heart, Let the healing fountain start, In the prison of his days, Teach the free man how to praise. W.H. Auden

We just had one of those Pennsylvania Spring showers that blows in like a rain parade and then exits, leaving a train of water in its path. Rain and sun are the ingredients for green and verdant. Too much of one, tips the scales to dryness or dampness. Yellow or Gray. 

Since I have been a Pennsylvanian, not by birth, but for most of my life, I am attuned to how the cadence of weather calls here. I do love it but would love it more if I lived elsewhere and returned.

Rain spiritually can symbolize Grace--as in a dry and barren land (Is. 44:3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants). Or, it can represent Judgment as in the Days of Noah (Gen. 7:12 And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights).

So, it covers the spectrum theologically, both a blessing and a curse. Rain is truly a symbol of both life and death. Our emotions of tears shows the same contrast. We cry most when very happy or very sad, with a lot of partly sunny and partly cloudy days in between. We can be thankful for the elegy of rain, it is poetry from the skies. 

  

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