Thunder and Rain

“Raise your words, not your voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder” ~ Rumi

Story time. My wife and I moved into a house a few years ago. It’s an amazing house that we absolutely love. But, it has it’s “challenges.” See, whoever lived here before us must have had a lot of free time on their hands because between the perfectly kept lawn and what seems to be an infinite number of different kinds of plants and we soon realized that it takes some effort to keep up with. What does this have to do with anything you ask?….Be patient…. I’m getting there. If you live in Florida you know that from day to day, month to month, and even year to year we could get way too much rain or not even close to enough rain and that affects everything to do with the yard and plants. And, I started thinking about all the issues we’ve had with our yard since we moved in and that was including having someone hired to take care of it all. Still, stuff was dying. Why? RAIN/WATER=LIFE. Not merely the act of working on it. We had failed to insert the most important part of the equation. Think about the world right now and compare it to this story. You see, we live in a time where everyone thinks that as long as you work the hardest and yell the loudest everything will work out. And what’s happening? Things are dying all around us. Morals are lacking. Anger is rising. Fights are starting. You can even go as far as to say Death is happening. Why? Because everyone wants to be the thunder and no one wants to be the rain. Life is so much more than trying to get YOUR point across. It should be more about watering the good in the world. Finding a common ground. Rooting yourself deep in right relationships. Having conversations instead of fighting. Promoting the beauty of life instead of shining a light on the death and hate. And the funny thing is, all the people casting their “thunder” and fury over everything they don’t agree with are seeing the OPPOSITE results they want. The very thing they yell and scream about gets worse the next day. We live in a world that lacks “rain.” Lacks love. Lacks understanding and patience. We lack a sense of compassion that ironically enough can be the very thing that could turn the world around. We want to be heard like thunder but see growth like rain gives. We are backwards. Look at your life. Look at your circle of friends or the people you trust and look up to. Are they rain or thunder? Are YOU rain or thunder? Do you and your circle share life, love, patience, kindness to each other and everyone around you? Or, do you spend your time trying to fight YOUR battle and get YOUR point across at the expense of everyone else around you? It’s time to change. If you want change…Be that change. If you want love…Be love. If you want yourself, your friends, the world to grow…Be rain. Otherwise, all you are are is thunder…A loud noise that distracts from the rain.