rain and sun

We had quite a rainstorm here in western Oregon yesterday, with some final hard showers this morning.  While we are used to damp weather, Oregon rain generally comes in the form of drizzle.  We may well be the reason variable-speed windshield wipers were invented.  

Late this morning I was sitting in the picture window of a coffee shop downtown, talking with a friend, when we suddenly found ourselves bathed in... sunshine!  Clouds have intermittently interrupted the sun's rays since then, but even so it was nice enough this afternoon to take the kid on a scooter ride around the block -- and for the husband and his junior assistant to do a little raking.

I'm sure this is a theme I've covered before, but its recurrence probably means it is important: it takes the rain for me to fully appreciate the sun.  Contrast brings light and shadow, depth and breadth to this life we all live.  It is hard to be in the shadowed places.  On the whole, though, I find myself thankful (and this is a good week for thanksgiving here in the States) for the days that bring light and joy.  

When I was young(er) I didn't have much time for Ecclesiastes.  The more I live, the more I find it becoming one of my very favorite books.  The passage most relevant to my reflections above may be the famous "a time to be born..." section in chapter 3, but as I was paging through just now the verse that stands out for me is this: 

"Send out your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will get it back."--Ecclesiastes 11:1

Life as a cycle.  Gift and receipt; light and dark; good and bad.  Lived in the midst of a promise that expands to cover it all.  Native Americans perceived of life as a web -- a contrast to Europeans' linear methods of thinking.  I suspect they were on to something.  We live in time, and toward a time when God's kingdom will come... for us.  In a larger sense, however, isn't it already here?  We perceive dimly.  Someday we have the promise of full Technicolor.  Meanwhile, we cast our bread.

Maybe it's the fresh air, but today, that's good enough for me.