22nd Septmeber 2012

By Trinity Bourne

Guest Writer for Wake Up World

When the heavens open.

Recently I was at the counter of a health food shop, when the lady serving made a stark comment about how “awful the weather is”. The rain was torrential, the clouds were black and anyone with out a raincoat or umbrella was getting drenched. Despite realising that it wasn’t the ‘expected sociable response’ to be happy about the rain, I just couldn’t agree with her…

What I was really thinking was – how blessed we were that we were not drought stricken. How vibrant the plants and trees looked. How rapidly my water-butts would be filling up in the garden back at home. What amazing poetry the rain created as it washed, cleansed and kissed the earth. So, I expressed my version of reality with a warm smile as she looked at me in that kind of ‘gone out’ sort of way, when it feels like you are a lonely fish swimming against the current in a big big river. I guess it’s all a matter of perspective.

Given half the chance, children will dance and splash in the rain for hours. My son could never resist the water. Same with any other kids I’ve been around. If it is wet, they’re in it, splashing about. Puddles, fountains, streams, the waves. Water can be an incredible element.

Beyond the clouds

I naturally feel the deepest respect for the elements. They can nurture us or devour us, depending on their intensity. Yet, when it pours with rain, I can’t help but remember that the sun IS still shining on the other side of the clouds and it will pass over soon enough. The dark clouds remind me of the light within our hearts. Ever there, it waits, with infinite patience to break through the clouds that obscure it; waiting to dance with the rain, create a rainbow or to add magnificent colour to the sunset sky.

We all see the world differently. Of course, we all see exactly what we need to see to teach us something deeper about ourselves. So, what do we see?

We can’t change the weather, yet we can expand into it, listen within and see if there are any undiscovered gifts of beauty.

We can expand beyond the dark clouds and find that the sun is always shining somewhere.

Soul to Soul

Trinity