Rain

The appearance of rain here today comes as a great relief. Water and its absence are tremendous reminders of our real circumstance on this special planet. We are largely water. We need water for life. We can be destroyed by water.

My humanism evolved in part from my undergraduate studies in cellular biology, biochemistry and physics within the walls of a religious university. The stark contrast between the information about the realities of life in physical terms and the mythology of religion stirred my young mind. The cynical disbelief in their own religion's arcane principles which was evident in some of my Jesuit teachers alerted me to the hypocrisy trap of religion over science.

When I admire the rain while worrying about my basement leaking, I understand something about the inner conflict between the animal in me and my frontal lobe. Unlike many human beings, I choose to hold onto the animal understanding as much as the mental understanding when I can. Fearing the animal brain is as silly as fearing the intellectual brain. The duet of these two inner voices of awareness is enriching. It makes me truly human.

Join me and let the rain fall on your face from time to time.