Not many people know this outside of the PNW, but in the summer it rarely rains in Seattle! In fact here’s a snap shot of our 10 day forecast!
I mean the summer weather here is incredible! But as a gardener (and I hate to admit this to my fellow PNWerners because they might kill me) I actually pray for rain out here in Seattle in the summer! It actually gets that dry out here!
This dryness brings me back to a time when I was serving my first church in Geddes, SD. My first summer there it didnt rain for 6 weeks. In a farming community, that was more than concerning. One morning one of the elders of our church, Georg Schroeder, came into my office and asked me if I would be willing to hold a prayer meeting that night for the farmers. I asked him what we were going to pray for, and he turned to me as serious as could be and said, “rain”!
I was more than a little stunned. I mean I wasn’t a Native American Medicine Man. I didn’t have a rain dance in my repertoire! But in the end we gathered and in the end we prayed and 3 days later we received an inch and a quarter of pure unbounded rain! And to this day I do not believe for a moment that that is why it rained! “O ye of little faith!”
Don’t we all wish it was that simple!
We all go through dry times, though. And I’m very interested in how we get through them. In times where God’s love seems distant and far away. When you look up into the sky of your life and don’t see a cloud of God’s grace even on the horizon, how do you get through?
I was visiting with Rev David Orendorff after church last Sunday (just so you know, Dave is my go to in dry times. When I am dry I go to Dave!) and I asked him this question, and his answer was: “in tough times I have to stick to my ‘best spiritual practices’. They are different for each of us, but without those, I don’t have a chance.”
Hmm…best spiritual practices…what are mine?
Watering my garden as the sun rises every morning. There is something about listening to the plants soak up life giving nectar and watching the sun gently say hello to the world that give me life, too.
Holy conferencing. I need to retreat with my peers at least once or twice a year or I’m in rough shape. I also need daily conversations about things that matter in my faith journey. That’s partly why I write this column
The African Americans often got through tough times by holding firm to the spirituals of their people. I have some go to songs and hymns that, like the spirituals, sustain me.
Playing the piano! I suck at it, but in a way I think that is why it sustains me! I actually enjoy the mistakes in it all. And the opportunity to rework it until I get it.
Writing my weekly column and hearing feedback by all of you!
Side note: if any of you are around when I'm 93 and in a Care Center and about to head to my eternal home, please bring to me one of my great grandchildren and have them practice the piano within earshot. The more mistakes the better! It will always be music to my soul!
So there you have it! Some of my go to's! What are yours? What gets you through the dry times? Would you be willing to share? I'd love to hear from you!
Your friend and pastor, still trying to learn how to rain dance, Brook