Blame it on the rain

Complaining about that which is life-giving

For the last two weeks, I’ve been visiting friends and family in Portland, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Toronto and rain has followed me everywhere I’ve gone.

And at times it’s felt oppressive:

Funny though, throughout history, people have prayed for rain.¹ Life depended on it. People danced for the blessing of rain, sacrificed animals and humans for it. And here I was, upset about something that is life-giving, because it disrupted my tourism.

Everyday miracles

Did you know we live in a world of everyday miracles?

• Water comes from the tap. In Portland, it costs $7 per ccf (centum centric feet, or 748 gallons), about a penny a gallon for the purest water in the world. An unbelievable bargain, given the amount of technology and public infrastructure for that to happen.

• Electricity comes out of a socket. The power grid did not exist before 1882. In 1936, 90 percent of rural America did not have electricity. Today electricity costs about 14 cents a kilowatt hour. To charge your phone, it takes about 25 cents per year. Do you know anyone who doesn’t have electricity? Could you imagine your home without it? Another massive infrastructure that no one really thinks about. When I worked for the PNW electric utilities, we were trying to get people to understand and cherish electrical power. We’re the cold in your beer. We’re the hot in your shower.² When was the last time you used your refrigerator, probably today?When was the last time you took a hot shower? What would it be to be without, like almost everyone in human history before you, including the very richest? And those simple things only begin to describe the ubiquitous wonder of electrical power.

• Poop goes away. In 1900, 1 percent of homes in America had indoor plumbing. In 1950, less than 50% did. Do you know anyone without indoor plumbing? What would you do without it? Wastewater infrastructure, a system that takes all the dirty dirty stuff you create and returns it to the water cycle basically clean. A crazy miracle. It costs 2 cents to flush a toilet.

The problem isn’t that we don’t have enough. The problem is it’s hard to truly understand the miracle of what we already have. It’s easy to cheapen everything with shallow entitlement. More difficult: to stay alert to blessing. But as St. Teresa of Avila said:

“It is love alone that gives worth to all things.”

It is your love, for whatever you have, that will make you feel wealthy. I know you were probably taught something very different, that achievement and status and money will make you happier. For a while, it does. That is the way of the world. But I know a lot of people in the professional class, making a lot of money in “great jobs” who aren’t very happy. I suspect you do too.

In my own experience, in my observation of others, and in the wisdom of any tradition, nicer houses, better travel, better fitting clothes, greater achievements and grander titles, are a grand samsaric wheel. They only make you crave more, which is a terrible way to live. And having any of these things, denuded of your deep abiding love, is empty. As Robert Browning said, without love, this earth is a tomb.

And seeking happiness or enoughness in the ways of the world distracts you from that which is already alive in you. This is the universal pattern: the superficial external world has to disappoint you before you turn within. Why else would you do it? Oftentimes your dissatisfaction, disappointment, or even depression are really simply the soul demanding you pay attention to something greater than whatever this patho-adolescent society has to offer.

Not everyone gets there. But those who do realize the joy they take out of this life is proportional to the attention and gratitude they give for the Gift. In the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.

Here’s one thing that I know is true, and if you thought about it, you would know is true too: what we seek isn’t wealth, but the feeling of being wealthy. A simple idea, immensely complex in application. But in the end, any spiritual or philosophical tradition will get to this: true wealth can only be found living in the Gift; the only ones who feel wealthy are those who feel grateful.

There’s so much to be grateful for. We’re surrounded by everyday miracles, or as Sister Mary Jo says, we are drenched in Grace. If we awaken to it, we’ll see it’s all available to us, sometimes pennies on the dollar. You can stop the endless chasing. So next time you turn on the faucet, or plug in your phone, or flush the toilet, take a moment: Holy shit, this is amazing. Holy shit.

Pray for it all

One of my mentors, Matthew Engelhart, told me once:

“When God brings rain, my prayer is rain.”

The mystic Meister Eckhart wrote:

“If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is “Thank You- it will be enough.”

So is my wish for you: when it rains, may your prayer be rain. And when there is sun, may your prayer be sun. Whatever comes, may you give thanks for the blessing in it. Yes, even dark grace. The simplest treasures, all that which is life-giving, are holding us in the Light.

1. Rain in the Bible, the Quran.

2. When you put water and electricity together, your 10 minute hot shower costs about 30 cents each day.