Have you taken time to smell the rain lately? Yes, rain has a fragrance if you pay attention, it is crisp, clean, bright and green. Years ago in Tucson I could always smell the rain during and after a rain storm. Here in Virginia it seems to be a rarer occurrence. However, today I’m wondering if not smelling the rain as frequently is because I’m not taking the time to notice.
I had a visit from my Pastor today, he inquired about my health and my souls health. Of course I responded with all the right answers, I’m taking time to read both for pleasure and for spirit, I’m slowing down, napping when I need to, worrying less about what others think, and grieving what was and what might never be… now. You know all the things you say and in my case I’m doing. It wasn’t until later as I sat outside I realized the real question.
Am I taking the time to see God in the midst of this chaos? How is God entering into my story, am I allowing God to enter my story? That’s where the rain came in.
I was sitting outside on the porch after our visit. The day is a beautiful respite from the heat of August, about 75 degrees, breeze blowing and buffy white clouds in the sky. Mike had gone to the office for a meeting and I was taking in the coming and going in our small neighborhood. At first I thought about the gardening I needed to get done, bushes to trim, plants to divide, weeding that needed desperately to be done.
As I let my mind shift from the “what needs to be done, to what is” my view broadened. It is the last day before school starts here and only a few children were at play, their voices lifting on the wind. As I listened my thoughts shifted into a place of great calm. Then I smelled it, the rain. It hadn’t even begun to fall yet but there was that distinct smell, bright, clean and green, almost mossy. Then the big drops started to fall softly first around my porch.
In that moment I realized the answer to the question earlier was simple, God was here with me now, I need to stop and look for her. I need her hugs, her gentleness surrounding me, watering me. When I take time to be present in my current life the fragrance of God is all around. I hope as time passes I will smell the rain more, hear the birds singing their songs, and yes held others listen too. I will always want to sit with others, and today I want to sit with me, God and fairy tales too.
“… the world can give you these glimpses as well as fairy tales can–the smell of rain, the dazzle of sun on white clapboard with the shadows of ferns and wash on the line, the wildness of a winter storm when in the house the flame of a candle doesn’t even flicker.” – Frederick Buechner
Spiritual Direction with Adriana 