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Saturday 4 January 2014

Sunbeams and Raindrops...

In a children's discovery book I read of rainbows and sunbeams and it wasn't fairy stories and magic. It was science and facts. 

It told of how sunbeams are always multi-coloured... everyday...always.
When they shine they are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.
The trick is this...
Our eyes can only see the rainbow when the sunbeam collides with rain. 
We see the beauty, the colour is revealed to our eyes, through the drops of rain that fall when the sun shines. 

It's the combination of the two, the sun and the rain, that allows our human eyes to see the out-of-the ordinary...the extraordinary...to see things differently.

And isn't that like life?

I love the sunshine moments in life. 
My leaning is to want them always. 
My daydreams swirl around the idea of perfection...you? 
A life without interruption of the good things. A life where every experience is happy, peaceful, fun, great, lovely...

The sun is a glorious force. It beats down on our faces and warms not only our skin but our hearts. It helps us to feel energized and motivated and it keeps us healthy. But our human nature will undoubtedly lead to this - too many days of sun and we stop noticing how great it is. We absorb the same benefits but it's just there...whatever.

Nature is representative of life on so many levels.

Have you ever met someone who has a pretty great set up - but they never seem content? The beauty of a moment is lost on them. Simple joys don't register. There is a shallowness that can't be forced to go any deeper. They only see one level of life, and they're less than impressed with it. 
They only see the sunbeam.

We run from rain - figuratively and literally. 
We check the weather forecast. We run to avoid getting wet. 
And most of us dodge rain in our lives to avoid pain, undoing and heartbreak. 
The frantic dance of someone trying to dodge rainfall in their life is one I've known well.
Not so graceful....and P.S...impossible.
We're meant to experience both...the sun and the rain.
Avoidance is futile.

It's easy and common to have the mindset that rain ruins things. 
It messes with plans. It makes puddles where we wanted a clear step. It floods out things that meant something...
Valuable things...
Things we didn't want to let go of...
Things we didn't want to lose. 
It washes away.

The hard truth is this - there is a depth to life when you've experienced some rain in your days. Seasons come and go, and through the storms you weather - and survive - you realize that there is meaning in the rain. Things that seemed average and one dimensional at one time - after a few storms  - now have depth and layers and meaning that you couldn't have seen before...even if you'd wanted to...even if you'd tried.
You also learn that storms do eventually end and that there are lessons to be found in the midst of them...and new beauty on the other side of them.

Sunbeams and rain do a dance in our lives. They work together to grow us...and undo us...and renew us...and sustain us. 
They allow us to see differently. 

I'm learning not to dodge the rain anymore. And when it does come, I'm looking down less...not focusing on the puddles and the mess. I'm glancing upward. I'm letting the drops hit me on the face because I know the sun WILL come, and if I catch it right - the rain may still be falling, and my eyes will see the streaming, dazzling colours...the gift that only comes from the rain in our lives. The promise, that although the rains may come, they will not destroy me.
The rainbow.


1 comment:

Ruth said...

Beautiful and so true! Wishing you a happy new year of growth, love, joy, sunshine and rainbows.