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I love the night after a good rain. The wet, warm mist rises and fills
the air with the scent of growing life. The night is quiet and still,
but alive in the shadows of darkness that are sensed but not seen.
Only those who are brave have discovered what hides in the night.
Modern society stands in contradiction to life. Here Judeo-Christian
fear dominates all choices and values. Even nature, which is not
correctly considered the base of the universe but rather is claimed as
the external creation of an invisible being, is praised but feared.
In other words, the followers of Jehovah will talk about how they
love nature but at a deeper level they are afraid of what it suggests
because it overtakes the supposed power of their god. When rain comes,
the sheep are afraid and seek shelter and protection. Even after the
rain, you will find the streets empty and their favorite strip malls
desolate. They are drained by the appearance of something that is so
clearly beyond their control, but it is only a threat because their
values have distanced them from reality. As a result, the potential
of this raw reality is frightening to them, so they seek predictable
comfort and the assurance that all hints of open life never touch them.
It's safest when nothing can happen.
To walk on a desolate nature path at night is to discover the meaning
of this in full. The silence of humanity provides a backdrop for
everything living to announce itself and seemingly be heard for
the first time. Each step brings you further into the depths of
chaos where there are no dead gray concrete buildings but instead an
everlasting organic cycle of life which surrounds you and reminds you
of how ludicrous the easy, static answers of society are. Here the
concepts of duty and obligation become transparent and hollow.
Instead, all that matters is what is right, that which speaks to our
spirits and forever stirs us alive. It is the internal realization,
not from an intellectual but from a spiritual perspective, that we
have no masters above us. All we need to find what is right is to
align ourselves with the voice of nature where we always find our
best results and our highest moments. Authenticity is a rare find
in this negotiated, compromised world, but when found it is the most
alive you will ever feel.
A walk after the rain washes off so many false assumptions and lies
about our lives that have been accepted as truths after years of
being repeated and accompanied by ritual duty to prove affirmation and
servitude to that which brings lasting harm. While reality permits us
to do anything we want with our lives, a quick glance at the depressing
results of drug addiction, suicide, entertainment, democratic politics,
junk food, child abuse, and middle-eastern slave religions tell us
plainly that not all choices are identical nor should we pretend they
are acceptable and tolerate them. It's so easy to give in and buttress
submission with clever justifications, but all of this is little more
than a complex evasion of life. Ultimately every denial only sows
the seeds of regret, ensuring that there will be poisoned fruit to
choke on in the coming years as a fair reward for planting the fields
with lies and then hiding from reality with comfortable delusions.
After the rain there is always a reminder of what could be -- and what
is lost when the most real parts of life are overlooked and forgotten.
-Jesus |