Forgiveness in the rain

Yesterday's blog for today.

Rain

As I was driving to work this morning, sheets of rain came down to engulf me, my baby (car) and a grey blanket of clouds loomed over me.  Living in paradise usually means a postcard of sun, sand and beach (skinny bikini model and abs guy) sorry to burst your holiday bubble if you are on your way to Samoa but November ushers in the rainy/cyclone season.  Like you, I enjoy the hot, clear blue sky days and I immensely dislike the rain.  While I was driving, I remember a particular conversation I had with one close family friend exactly five years ago. I was sitting in Aute's guesthouse at Saleimoa when it started to rain, lightly at first and then soundly. 

 "I hate the rain!" I lamented

"Why? You should love it! We are so used to the sun that we forget about the rain!What is the sun without the rain? I love the rain because it calms everything down.  It gives new life and changes the normal colour of our world.  The rain renews", Aute said.

It struck me that she was absolutely correct! We are so used to good things that we forget about the bad! The rain is not bad but it can represent all the small annoyances in life, pesky problems, small encounters that we replay over and over in our minds that could have had a better outcome.  Some of the things we say offhandedly that we wish we could take back.  After all, what is happiness without sadness? What is success without struggle? What is destination without the journey? Sometimes, it takes real problems to make us appreciate the solutions. Other times, it takes just one smile from a stranger to turn a rainy day into a sunny one.

Aute explained the usefulness and the many good faces of rain.  She reminded me about the villagers who needed  rain for their water supply as some of the rural villages can go weeks without clean, fresh water.  Then of course, my farming papa who needs the rain now and then to nourish his many lovers (pumpkins, water melons, cabbages, cows, broccoli, saladeer, pele leaves ...).  There are many uses of the rain like the little annoyances in life. Just as the plants need the rain to grow, we need the little annoyances of life to learn, to mature us, to test us so that we can become better christians, better people. Other annoyances can transform into huge bitter roots that will only bear terrible fruits if we don't snuff them out early enough.  For instance, if there is a particular person that you have "chosen" to dislike "just because", everything that person does will turn out wrong in your sight, the things they say will never make sense, the clothes they wear will never be fashion sense enough for you, the car they drive is just not cool enough and eventually even their life partner/husband/wife  and innocent children will be painted in the same dark ink that you have mixed for years!

That interesting conversation between Hibiscus and I, is still embedded in my memory.  It also struck me that I was a lover or rain I was a child. My older sister, Joanne and I used to get hidings from mother dearest because we would just fill a tub, gallon, basically anything that was knee-waist-neck high enough to hold water.  We would wait patiently until the tub/gallon is filled to the brim then we both jump in, pretending that we were either at the river or at the beach. We would spend enough time in there to wrinkle our skin plus the hiding if were were found out. If we couldn't find any of those, we would just go outside and wait for the rain to drown us. The best part is the warm bed after the cold showers.

Rain is renewal, rejuvenation, a new chapter.  Rain like Aute explained can be powerful enough to wash our insecurities, problems, fears away.  There is something magical about the rain, cleansing, a reconciliation between the old and new, giving enough warning before it comes.  Starting, softly, slowly at first then gradually beats down on us like a loving father.  There is forgiveness in the rain. I told someone once that forgiveness liberates the soul, the words of Nelson Mandela in the movie Invictus, when he was imprisoned for his beliefs.

"Forgiveness liberates the soul, it removes fear. That's why it's such a powerful weapon."

The rain can also symbolize a path of reconciliation with others.  A choice to live in harmony. Wash away the old, dust and replace with the new.  Forgiveness frees us from many unpleasant things and is extremely difficult. I know because I am human.  If we were perfect, we would not need forgiveness, reconciliation or instruction.  Forgiveness is the product of humility. To put others before ourselves, instead of pointing to them we point to ourselves, we see our own imperfections and using the courage through humility to truly forgive someone regardless of who is right or wrong.  If we hold onto an unforgiving heart, we choose to be enslaved by our thoughts, to be unwilling to forgive is to actively add to a wound that is already infected, it will rot our bones from the core. Our lives will be forever hindered if we don't forgive.

Thank you God for the rain yesterday and for the sun today. Choose to live with a new pair of eyes today, so that we can see with a new vision and a new heart. It might rain in our lives now and then, but the sun will bring new hope and renewed energy.

 

Sunrise  at Maui

Note: Aute is a real person just with a different name, her grandchildren call her "Frangipani"