Deacon Brigid Waszczak
You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.
—Psalm 63:1
Sisters and Brothers,
The first verse of Psalm 63 grabbed my attention with “thirst.” The psalmist is in a “dry and parched land where this is no water.” Yes! That’s us! We, too, long for relief from drought.
Our monsoon season has been disappointing. The Rillito River hasn’t evidenced even a tiny trickle of water through its broad expanse. In our neighborhood, a few 15–20-minute hard rains left puddles that evaporated within minutes.
I’m a pluviophile; I like rain. I find peace, joy, and calm on rainy days. Granted, I don’t live in the rain-soaked Pacific Northwest where endless wet days can leave one soggy-spirited. In Tucson, however, I cherish God’s gift of rain and the blessings it showers on the dry, desert landscape and on my parched soul.
Our most salient scriptural memory of rain is, of course, Noah and The Flood. The 40-day torrential rain implied judgement for sin, but also in scripture, the absence of rain signified judgment. No happy medium.
In scripture, rain also symbolized our loving God’s provision, abundance, and spiritual renewal. Much needed rainfall represented an outpouring of Divine grace and blessing.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught that God “sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” God’s rain blesses us all. Rain is generous gift falling upon all God’s children regardless of our standing—saint or sinner.
It would be easy to imagine an unhappy, vengeful God withholding rain from our desert while flooding other parts of this country—God, sending a physical message for us to “wise up” and “clean up our act.”
But that isn’t the God I know or believe in. Sadly, we are reaping the effects of the climate change we humans helped create. Through the droughts and the floods, God grieves alongside us; God is with us while inspiring us to re-evaluate our behavior and arrive at better solutions. We’ re just slow learners. But, God is patient.
Join me in praying for a more balanced rainfall across the nation. Peace.
—Deacon Brigid
