The Day It Finally Rained
Can you feel it?
When the first rain drops began falling everyone who was not already outside came out of their homes. All eighty-seven members of the settlement stood on the ground — most of them barefoot — as the rain intensified, quickly drenching them all.
The collective joy was palpable. Some people were dancing in the rain. Children were stomping through the quickly forming puddles. Many just stood and, with arms spread outward, they lifted their faces skyward to let their tears of joy be instantly washed from their smiling faces.
The drought had lasted for two years. The settlement’s store of food was depleted. The latest crops were not growing. The surrounding hillsides had become so dry as to pose a severe fire hazard.
The previous year the people had come together to collectively pray for rain. They prayed and prayed and prayed but the rain never came.
Prayer commenced this year even before the new crops were planted. The people prayed, they implored, they begged. They were in a desperate state.
But the rains did not come.
After a couple of bone dry months a visitor came to the settlement. Sitting with several of the settlement’s elders he learned of their predicament and he learned of their collective praying.
After they had told the visitor everything the stranger told them that they were praying incorrectly.
The elders were aghast. Praying incorrectly? They were praying the way they had always been taught to pray. How could this stranger say such a thing?
Standing up from the table, the visitor began walking around the table (in a clockwise direction) as he explained himself, “When you are dehydrated and pray for rain to come nature FEELS your current situation and gives you more of it. It supports what you are FEELING. If you are intensely FEELING dehydration that is what nature will give you because that is how nature reads what you want.”
Much head scratching and beard scratching ensued.
The stranger continued, “Nature does not listen to what is in your noggins. It listens to what is in your hearts. What you FEEL, it feeds.”
The scratching intensified.
“If you will allow me, I would like to propose a solution to your predicament.”
The scratching stopped and ears perked up. The people were desperate and ready to try anything.
“First of all, stop praying for rain. Completely. Instead of coming together to pray collectively, come together to FEEL collectively. Leave your noggins out of it and just FEEL. Don’t think.”
“The entire settlement must come together in the morning just after sunrise and FEEL rain. FEEL what it is like being drenching wet. FEEL the water pouring over you. FEEL your naked feet standing in mud. FEEL the water nourishing you and your crops. FEEL the taste of water in your mouths. FEEL the joy of dancing in the rain. Simply FEEL everything that is good about water. FEEL it in your hearts as intensely as you can. FEEL it as though it is happening in the present moment.”
“Do this for three days and on the third day it will rain.”
With this, the visitor picked up his bag and left, never to be seen again.
The elders quickly agreed to try this as an experiment. They called a meeting of all settlement members and explained the instructions of what they would do. All praying was stopped during the experiment.
The people did this for three days and around noon on the third day large gray clouds appeared.
When the first rain drops began falling everyone who was not already outside came out of their homes. All eighty-seven members of the settlement stood on the ground — most of them barefoot — as the rain intensified, quickly drenching them all.
The collective joy was palpable — just as it was during their collective sunrise FEELING ceremonies.
Nature brought the people what they were FEELING.
Copyright by White Feather. All Rights Reserved. This is a work of fiction. Complete White Feather Archive Index
Author’s note: It is rumored that this technique (known by some as Quantum Prayer) utilized by the people of the settlement can also be used for many other sorts of predicaments… even political ones.
Speaking of weather…
