Rain.

I was in Guatemala in July. While working one afternoon, the rain came down. Out of nowhere, God tore open the sky, and the Guatemalans ran for cover. Apparently, they don’t work in the rain. And “when in Guatemala…”

About eight of us gathered in a tiny covered hut near the job site. I learned a few new Spanish words before deciding I wanted to get drenched. I could dry off later on the long walk back to the San Lucas Mission. Without a word to anyone, I walked out of the hut carefully over the slippery rocks that we all had piled together over the last few days. My friends and the Guatemalans shared a few laughs at my expense. Laughter is the same in any language.

I listened as the rain poured down on my poncho percussively, and I was drawn into deep prayer. This was not the prayer of petition. This was the prayer of simple receiving from a God who freely gives. I opened my hands and felt the rain fall down.

The rain falls on us all. The rain causes everything to grow. The rain interrupts what we are doing, so we stop and pay attention. The rain calms and soothes us. The rain washes away the dirt and grime that is caked on our hands. It cleanses. It purifies. It nurtures. And it is the same everywhere. The same rain that drenched me amongst the poorest of the poor in Guatemala is drenching thousands of Chiefs fans as I write this late Monday night.

We are not so different. The rain falls on all of us.

In the rain in Guatemala in July, I considered how the rain is like God’s love. Try as I might, I cannot do anything to make it rain. And try as I might, I cannot do anything to make God love me. Yet God pours this rain and God pours this love out on us freely. All we need to do is sit quietly underneath it.

There is more. Once the rain soaks into the ground, it is pulled back into the sky in a cycle of giving and receiving that never ends. We, too, are called to give back the love we have received. Why would we hold onto something that falls on us so freely? The love that falls on me regardless of merit is to be given to others regardless of merit.

Because God’s love falls on us all. God’s love causes everything to grow. God’s love interrupts what we are doing, so we stop and pay attention. God’s love calms and soothes us. God’s love washes away the dirt and grime that is caked on our hands. It cleanses. It purifies. It nurtures. And it is the same everywhere. The same Love that drenched me amongst the poorest of the poor in Guatemala is drenching thousands of Chiefs fans as I write this tonight.

We are not so different. God’s love falls on all of us.

with love,

a young shepherd.