In the Sun and the Rain

"God is in the rain."

One of my favorite movies of all time is "V For Vendetta." I am moved by the message of the movie and I feel drawn to contemplation every time I watch it. One statement that always bothered me, however, was the phrase 'God is in the rain." I chalked it down as Eastern Transcendental bull crap and didn't give it much thought.

The problem was that I took it literally. A moment of lapse of reason and judgment and a revisiting of my time as a child when I solely thought in concrete, literalistic patterns.

"God is in the rain."

This past week I drove back home from Kansas City. Rain was pouring down and it was ridiculous! I wanted the Sun so bad. I prayed that God would give me a break in the clouds and let me see the Sun.

Five minutes later the clouds opened up and gold filled the sky! My friend and I pulled over get gas and I stared at the gift God had given to me. Then He threw in one of the most vivid rainbows that I had ever seen. Wow. I saw God in the sunlight and in the rainbow. My mind drew back to the promise that he made in Genesis that every time He saw a rainbow He would remember His promise to never destroy the Earth via flood ever again.

Gabe took over the driving and as the Sun lowered I fell asleep. After a while I woke up to complete darkness, a freakin' deluge, and a road trip that had just dropped to 30 mph. It was there that I understood. It was that moment that I found God in the rain.

The rainbow remained etched in my mind as I took in the chaos around me and I remember His promise. I saw Him even in the chaos. I saw Him touching my impatient heart and drawing me to trust Him and just rest as we slowly worked our way through the darkness.

"God is in the rain."

From the storm there will be clearer air, healthier plant life, cleansing, etc. While we may not like it, God works in this manner in our lives. He takes us through storms to cleanse us, to give us life, and to show us the Sun breaking through the clouds.

Grace and Peace,

Stephen

"Lord, Make Me Peace..."

I was driving home from work after a long day of dealing with corporate visitors, straightening clothes, and absolute boredom! I was exhausted and my mind was heavy with the many aspects of life that are difficult, troubling, and heavy on my heart. Thought after thought rolled through my mind and then I finally rested on the relieving reality that in merely a week I will be with my friends spending a week in Savannah, GA! I was filled with excitement over the soon coming vacation!

As I was thinking about the trip, my thoughts turned to my friends' newly born son, Edmund and I thought of the crying baby and, for some reason, I welcomed the idea of being kept awake because of a little crying baby. Weird right?! As I daydreamed of this possible event, I imagined that I was able to calm the weeping lad and that was the point of contact for the Spirit to plant a renewed desire in my heart! Peace: to have peace, to give peace, and to be made into peace!

My mind was immediately filled with the words of St. Francis and longed to be a wellspring of peace.

The world isn't full of peace these days. we are surrounded with discussions of war and revolt. Chaos fills our work spaces, family encounters, and our troubled psyches. Something that we lack, and severely need, is peace. In Christ, I should be striving to be an instrument of peace in the world. We are called to be peacemakers; centers of calm in the storms of life. It is sad that, even though we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, we are not often very peace-giving or peace-making.

I recognize the horrible truth that I myself am often a bringer of chaos; I often let my mind fall into chaos in the midst of undesirable situations rather than yielding myself to the Spirit's work in me. Instead of disciplining my mind I let my heart grow impatient and even cold towards others, rather than stepping in with the strength and wisdom of God to put an end to the wars raging around me. This is not a holy way to live and is not honoring to God.

Sin dwells within our hearts. It is the cancer of our souls; the broken aspect of our humanity. It is my sin that separates me from God and it is my tainted human nature that stirs my heart to malice, selfishness, and unholistic living and thinking. I am on this journey of redemption and healing, but I have a long way to go before I reach before I get to where God really wants me to be. He is walking with me through this and as He and I engage in this divine romance I am being made more and more like Him. That is what I experienced today in my car. A moment of with God in which He spoke softly to me and told me that He wanted me to be something different; revealing a part of me that has all but evaded my sight. In the midst of this revelation all I could say was, "Lord, make me peace..."

In this Lenten season, let us seek to be men and women of peace. Let us become instruments of peace for the world, and let's start where it often the most difficult-right in our own homes and relationships.

Grace and Peace,

Stephen