Walking in the Rain

Walking in the rain: 

it's just after 4:00 a.m, meditation and yoga behind me for the morning, coffee brewed and I'm taking halting sips as I begin to settle into my pattern of writing. What draws my attention right now is the steady rain against my office window, relentless since I woke well over an hour ago. Once I'm done writing, my coffee finished, I'll head outside for several miles of walking in the rain and still dark morning. It won't be pleasant, not even the least bit....

but it will be joyful.

in it's very own way. 

this might be a subtle distinction - as I think of pleasant as slight warmth against skin, an early peek of sun just on the horizon, and an easiness to my stride. That might be my most often request, asking for conditions to be near perfect for my taste. Yet nature seems to seldom respond to what I ask for, having no agenda other her own. So I take what each morning offers, grateful that I'm able to receive the contrasting gifts of steady rain and slight warmth of sun, each given as a mystery, and both so deeply appreciated for the joy that they invoke. 

here's the distinction: 

pleasant is the experience of all that pleases me, brings comfort, and I find myself smiling for these very reasons given  by the morning. But my joy runs deeper still, it's unprovoked by patterns of mood or weather, existing entirely without my preconceived conditions of the world. 

my joy simply is.

and doesn't need a reason. 

so I listen to the rain beating hard against the office window, smiling at the prospects of a most unpleasant morning excursion. 

walking in the rain.

with a deep joy existing in my heart.

~

peace, Eric