Summer Blessings: Summer Rain

Enjoy this practice as a stand-alone experience or as the fifth of an eight-day series of blessings inspired by Br. David's book "99 Blessings: An Invitation to Life."

SOURCE OF ALL BLESSINGS,

you bless us with summer
rain — starting with a smell all
its own when drizzle settles the
dust, turning into a calm flow, then
becoming a steady stream, sleepy
and unhurried, that falls all day
(and the next and the next, till time
stands still), making the earth soft
and rich and the grass green.
May I let its voice so quiet my
mind that I become all around
me like mild rain.

Sense how it feels to honor the softening and life-giving gifts of summer rain. When we allow ourselves to be nourished and guided by the rhythms of a gentle rain or a drenching downpour, we experience ourselves as part of the great river of life and know ourselves to belong in its flow.

“May this patchwork quilt of blessings help to sharpen your taste for the gift of life in its innumerable facets,” Br. David writes. “May you grow ever more blessed, ever more able to bless.”

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Enjoy the full eight-day Summer Blessings I practice series.

Br. David Steindl-Rast, OSB

Brother David Steindl-Rast — author, scholar, and Benedictine monk — is beloved the world over for his enduring message about gratefulness as the true source of lasting happiness. Known to many as the “grandfather of gratitude,” Br. David has been a source of inspiration and spiritual friendship to countless leaders and luminaries around the world including Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, Thomas Merton, and more. He has been one of the most important figures in the modern interfaith dialogue movement, and has taught with thought-leaders such as Eckhart Tolle, Jack Kornfield, and Roshi Joan Halifax. His wisdom has been featured in recent interviews with Oprah Winfrey, Krista Tippett, and Tami Simon and his TED talk has been viewed almost 10,000,000 times. Learn more about Br. David here.

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Community Conversation

Arlie10098

The rain poured down
This evening
A torrential pouring
As we stepped out into it
On our journey to
Angela’s Memorial
The Minister said
“Rain is taking Angela
Directly up to Heaven”
Her husband spoke
Of how Angela cried out
“Turn me back, God”
And all the times God
Had granted her one
More turn
But not Sunday
He turned her toward Him
In the end
we stepped out
Into a gentle summer’s rain

5

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The rain poured down This evening A torrential pouring As we stepped out into it On our journey to Angela’s Memorial The Minister said “Rain is taking Angela Directly up to Heaven” Her husband spoke Of how Angela cried out “Turn me back, God” And all the times God Had granted her one More turn But not Sunday He turned her toward Him In the end we stepped out Into a gentle summer’s rain

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Ogden Kruger

i woke up…looked out the window and saw the garden gate open…my husband would never do this on purpose! …i made my way out to shut that trusty, artsy crafted gate and couldn’t help but admire the scene…damp dark dirt, bright green leaves, flowers popping on the future Lima’s…it just filled me….walking back the slate path dark with dampness held a sheen, the birds where singing a bit more quietly then usual…as I contemplated what would fill my belly from this bounty today…I have such gratitude, for the grower, the sun, the rain, the soil, the time and pace and peace….how can you not be filled with heart expansion from this sweet eden!

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i woke up...looked out the window and saw the garden gate open...my husband would never do this on purpose! ...i made my way out to shut that trusty, artsy crafted gate and couldn't help but admire the scene...damp dark dirt, bright green leaves, flowers popping on the future Lima's...it just filled me....walking back the slate path dark with dampness held a sheen, the birds where singing a bit more quietly then usual...as I contemplated what would fill my belly from this bounty today...I have such gratitude, for the grower, the sun, the rain, the soil, the time and pace and peace....how can you not be filled with heart expansion from this sweet eden!

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