Wetness

Here is a quote for today's blog, but it isn't the Lenten quote, not yet:

"Some people feel the rain; others just get wet."  -- Bob Marley

What does this mean?  At first I thought it made a lot of sense, that I understood it, but as I read it again and yet again, now I'm honestly not sure.  Does it mean something to you?

Might it be that some of go through life experiencing it to the full, feeling the rain, but keep on going while others of us just succumb to the rain, letting it take over and become the focus.

Personally, I'm not much of a fan of walking in the rain without some kind of covering.  First of all, I have lousy hair.  It doesn't like rain and does what it does best -- goes straight and ugly.  So that in itself has caused me to avoid it.  Second, I'm cold a lot.  To me wet equals cold, so I avoid that.  Actually, I wish I was more like the people who feel the rain, who have that abandon that everything will be all right.  That they are living in that moment and not anguishing about 15 minutes down the road.  That they relish the beauty of rain, of how it nourishes all of the beautiful plants and trees all about us.  I'd be wondering how fast I could get to a blow dryer.

This quote started out being just a lark, a shot in the dark when I was actually searching for the source of another quote that had an impact on me.  It is nearly the first sentence in a book that I read some years ago, the basic premise of which is that we tend to go through life thinking that it's supposed to be good and anything that departs from that is the abnormal.  When actually life is tough and difficult and painful, and any day that goes pretty well is a cause for much joy and thanks.  It's a quote that puts challenges into perspective.

Now I guess it is time for us to look at a quote for the eighth day of Lent:

"Nothing, how little so ever it be, if it is suffered for God's sake, can pass without merit in the sight of God." -Thomas a Kempis

This quote meshes nicely with the two concepts above, doesn't it?  Father Kevin always says that whenever we are suffering, say from arthritis pain or from a bad head cold, or from even more serious pain, we should use it for God's purpose.  Say we are suffering from emotional pain from a loss, or terrible sadness that goes on and on.  None of this needs to be experienced for no reason.  We can always offer up our suffering for someone else.  Just say something like, "God, please use this aching back of mine because I'm offering up this pain for the sake of my friend, _____, who needs you.  Please help her."

Somehow, amazingly, whenever I've done this and I try to remember to do it whenever an occasion comes up, the pain lessens in its intensity.  Part of it is that by offering up the pain, I tend to see a purpose to it and I relax just that little bit.  Somehow, giving the pain a reason takes away its sting.

So during Lent, even more so than usual, we should remember to offer up any of our sufferings to alleviate the suffering of someone else.  Just the way that Jesus offered up His sufferings for our sake.

Be careful out there today!!!