Remember the old children’s song, “Rain, rain, go away, come again another day”? Taken literally, isn’t that just requesting an additional day of precipitation? Hmmm.
I love rain, though. And that’s a good thing, because we sure have had a lot of it lately.
Sure, the changes in barometric pressure affect my damaged joints, but what’s a little extra creaking when you’re used to weird grinding and popping noises anyway?
It’s got me thinking about a few of my favorite things. Some of you started singing when your read that, didn’t you?
Some of my favorite smells are warm cornbread; a trio of garlic, onions and peppers in a hot pan; percolating coffee; fresh-cut grass; my freshly-washed dog; and the air just after a cooling rain.
Some of my favorite sounds are cheers at a hockey game; the laughter of my children and little babies; the sound of percolating coffee (I know); acoustic guitar songs; and the patter of rain on a tin roof or tent above my head.
I understand too much of anything is not a good thing. That’s why we say it’s “too much.” But rain is a gift from God, a sign of His general grace and goodness, offered to all people at all times in all places.
In the biblical book of Matthew, just after Jesus commands His followers to love their enemies, too — not just the people who love them back — He gives a simple illustration of God’s love for everyone: sun and rain.
“For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45).
So rain is more than simply something to water the grass, trees and flowers; more than supply for streams and lakes and thirsty animals; more than a pleasant smell or nap-worthy soundtrack.
Rain is a promise kept — never again so much that the world is covered by a flood, stamped with the rainbow as a seal of the promise. Rain is a repetitive sign of a loving Creator, giving good things to everyone, no matter who they are.
So, rain, keep coming down today and any other day God gives you to us, because you are a reminder that we are loved.
Brett Campbell can be reached at ChunkyBrett@mail.com.
