Rain drops hurled themselves at my car as I squinted to see through the wet windshield. I haven’t seen or felt rain this angry in a while. I thought about pulling over; I don't really trust man-made objects in combatant with nature, but I continued to drive forward, into the storm, to visit my best friend and her family. I am not one to let my "environment" obstruct my goals. Vehement thunder and incensed lightening provided quite the soundtrack to my blurry vision. I thought about how dirty the streets were before the rain washed them clean. How cloudy my mind once was driving before I actually had to pay extreme attention to the road.
Fear can wake a person up. Fear can make a person hide. Fear can justify extremities, validate simplicity, or intensify curiosity. Many people on the road today acted differently to this fierce tsunami like storm. Some pulled off to the side of the road and waited for the rain to soften and the lightning to calm. Others drove the usual speed limit or faster to rebel against the weather. Some, like me, drove about 10 under the speed limit, and paid attention to our surroundings in order to reach our destination in a safe and timely manner. This reaction by people is not unique to this situation. I find in all my daily obstacles strangers react in one of 3 ways.
Rain is lovely to me. It is the substance in which life is created and maintained pouring down onto the filth and corruption we have created and maintained. A sense of renewal is brought with a storm like today. But it also showers onto the beauties of the world we have not yet succeeded in ruining. My hike through El Yunque in Puerto Rico revived this idea. The hike was long and hot, but so rewarding once I reached the top and drank fresh, clean, life giving rain water. It was at the top of the mountain, knee deep in rain water that I was able to appreciate everything my senses had just witnessed.
Nobody ever wants to get wet. Even me, today once I reached my destination, I sat in my car deciding whether or not I wanted to wait to get out and venture to the house. I looked in my mirror to see Sarah walking to my car with a huge umbrella and a relieved smile wiped across my face. My thoughts wrapped up while Sarah and I shared an umbrella and walked through the muddy puddles that were slowly draining into the sewer. After all, it is about appreciation and relationships with others who are also experiencing life…
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