I was leaving a parish event with a woman in my small group. You could hear the sound of the rain outside, meaning you knew you were about to get poured on. I was gearing up to cover the papers I was holding under my shirt and sprint to my car, preparing to get as little-soaked as possible. Right as we walked outside, I turned to this woman and said something along the lines of, “If I was a kid, I’d be so excited to go out into this rain.”
A perspective shift. It was simple yet profound. What changed in me that decided rain was a bad thing?
I removed whatever item I had that was randomly trying to cover my head, I slowed my pace, and I looked up. There I was walking at a normal speed, with not a care in the world. I felt the rain on my skin, not as an invasion of my body, but as a new friend being welcomed with joy. Something about this small experience felt “right” to me. I felt I was rediscovering something I knew before.
For the past few months, I’ve been working on this. Any time it rains, I think to myself, “what would little me think of this encounter?” And yes, I have skipped through rain and plowed through puddles and have smiled. Did you know it’s possible to smile through the rain?
I share this reflection as part of my own growing curiosity with how many other things in my life I view as an “adult”. Looking at my financial statements with begrudging annoyance, just another thing on my list of tasks, versus seeing the possibility each dollar has. Seeing my body as another example of how I can’t catch a break, walking through life with so much soreness, random pain, or inconvenience, versus waking up knowing there’s an adventure that awaits me no matter how my body is feeling.
I remember my mom telling the story that I would always find my new “best friend” at the playground. Each time we were there, I would say, “Hey mom, this is Jamie, my new best friend!” or “Hey mom, this is Natalie, my new best friend!” It was impossible to keep up!
What if I could see the world more as a small child? With curiosity, excitement, and new ideas.
What if I saw each person as a new friend? A whole new human being in my life to behold the beauty of.
What if I saw my day-to-day tasks as the real life fulfillment of dreams made possible right in front of my eyes? To quote a song and album by Abbie Gamboa, “Have You Ever Looked Around And Realized Everything You Ever Wanted Is Right In Front Of Your Eyes?”
What if I saw the rain as friend not foe? What if the rain was a splash of wonder, an opportunity for joy, a gift from God directly to me?
What if the world wasn’t out to get me but was just trying to get me to look up? To look up, to feel the rain, and breathe deeper again.