Rain Is God

I have no religion that belongs to me or me to it. For many years, however, I have studied the Tao Te Ching and will likely do so for the remainder of my earthly existence. The Tao was written long before the Bible. I often think humanity should have embraced the Tao and stopped there, but I understand that a good many people needed more. Surely someone could write something better that did not involve such simplicity. (Man loves to complicate the world.) Many religious texts followed as did war because some folks see their god as all-knowing, better than any other god and will fight ferociously to make you believe it.

I am fond of the Tao because there are no rules. Taoism is not a religion. It’s not suggested that I idolize one god for I am god and so are you. So is every flower in every garden or the faintest star that causes you wonder in the night. By seeing everyone as god, I live to serve all people instead of one. By observing nature as god I appreciate and value the earth. Adversity has left my vocabulary, for now everything in each day flows like a book. Life is a story author unknown, and I watch it unfold without resistance. I have experiences, feel them and then they go away. I have learned not to push against anything, anyone or any set of circumstances and I feel stronger.

This is not preaching, but rather a few basic tidbits of something that has made my life decidedly more pleasant. I might add that I am not anti-religion. It’s quite the opposite in fact. The Bible, the Quran or any other religious text lies in wait for those who seek it the same way the Tao exists for people who are like me. That said, I do believe that each of us came from a place of wondrous love and all we’re doing right now is heading back to that same place. It's a blessed journey that we are fortunate to have.

  

It did cause me concern that Lao-Tzu included the verse, “Those who know do not speak. Those who speak do not know.” I sat quietly and asked if was okay for me to write anything about it at all. A short time later he answered me: “It is okay to write a positive story regarding something that has helped you in life. That’s what the Tao was written for. Do not pretend you know or understand the Tao in whole because then your journey has come to a halt. Many people struggle with religion, what life is about, or how to look at it. Someone might reap benefits from your words, so write away. Do your best to keep it under ten-million words. Remember simplicity my friend.”

All of this brings me to this picture and the story behind it: Those of us in the northeast have been blanketed with continuously cloudy skies along with relentless rain that has varied between light all the way up to pounding. It’s gone on for almost a week and there are still a few more days of muck remaining in our forecast. A stretch this long used to bother me. It would get me down. Now I have come to appreciate the balance between sun and rain. After all, rain is water, one of the most important substances of our life force both in body and in mind. It nourishes as well as it teaches: Water is soft, yet gets where it wants to go without struggle making it strong, often by simply yielding. With continuous effort, water can break down a solid rock. It can fill an ocean or be invisible. So now rain has become as amazing to me as a spectacular sunrise on a partly cloudy morning.

When I returned to work headquarters yesterday in my RV, I got in my car and drove to a nearby lake to celebrate. If water wants to fall from the sky, I’ll go look at even more water that would not exist without a collaboration of raindrops and I’ll appreciate all of it. There I was, enjoying the rain. I photographed the scene to offset all the pictures of the sun tucked away on my hard drive. That’s some balance right there my friend. Have a happy day, rain or shine. Things just are and that’s what makes them perfect. This man finds no reason to complicate them.