Rain.

It's quiet and peaceful as I sit here on my porch listening to the rain. I love the sound as it tap dances all around me. The droplets fall for miles from the sky, all the while reflecting the man-made light that represents a world that is up past its bedtime.

The sky seems like day while the earth is wrapped in night. I'm like the sky...living side by side with all which sleeps, while I myself remain fully awake.
We rebel against the darkness imposed upon us by a distant sun whose warmth and light are elsewhere occupied.

Some say nothing good happens after dark, but I would have to disagree, for here in the the shadows, my eyes open wider.....searching for any glimmer. At the same time my ears become hypersensitive. I hear everything.....everything that the light of day makes me drown out in order to focus on what I see.

I hear the rain hitting the roof, the gutters, my car hood. I hear the cars driving down streets that are well out of my sight. Airplanes that cruise above the reflecting clouds no longer pass by in anonymity, but rather are both heard and felt because my eyes have been dimmed by night.

A bird just chirped from across the street. Never knew they chirped at night. I guess they do. Maybe he too is enjoying a midnight ramble.

Rain. Its such a simple thing, and yet it brings out things no other thing can. Rain can stretch a porch light's reach all the way down the street, lighting up the ground. The ground dances around me with waves and ripples.........an expression of gratitude for a nice long cool drink from the Creator.

Why do people sleep through rain? Is it because it is like an emotional back rub, massaging out all the tension and anxiety created by daytime? Is it because the sound of its arrival reminds our subconscious minds of our mothers heartbeat from before our arrival. We were surrounded by water then too. We were the wavemakers then. It was dark in that place as well, and yet so comfortable, so safe, so reassuring.

Perhaps rain brings us closer to God, closer to our heavely home, reminding us of our heritage which is rooted in Him. Perhaps in every way, sitting through a peaceful rain is a connecting act of the hearts of man to his Maker, spanning the expanse of time and space to embrace one another again even if only through rain.

Perhaps they are tears. Perhaps He misses us like we miss Him. Or perhaps these are tears of joy because I have been more intimately reminded of His presence in my life by something so simple, so ancient, so beautiful, so renewing as a rain message from above.

Oh!...the lightning just flashed......He must be waiting up for me. The thunder tells me so. I think I'll stay a while yet. The rain hasn't stopped. How can I possibly make myself go inside now?

No, don't wait up for me!