September 19, 2025
Most days when I’m at church, at least during the warmer months, I try to squeeze in a short afternoon walk down Charlton Road to Delaware and back. It's just over a mile and doesn't take long, but the road is quiet with lots of pretty roadside flowers, so it feels like a little outing. Especially when I'm doing sermon prep, it's a nice little way to stretch my legs and clear my head a bit.
Yesterday afternoon, though, I misjudged the weather. Well, to be more accurate, I didn't even think about the weather. I had an unexpected window between Zoom calls and figured I’d take advantage of the time, so I headed out without even glancing at the sky. (Dear Reader, it was dark!) I was almost to the end of Charlton when the rain started. One minute not raining, the next a downpour. I didn’t have an umbrella, of course, so I took refuge under a tree "until it slowed down". It never really did: I waited as long as I could and then I needed to get back for my Zoom, rain or no rain. (Dear Reader, there was rain!)
I arrived back at church soaking wet. Luis Rojas saw me come in and said, "I saw you leaving and thought you were crazy!" He’s not wrong. But there was also a huge smile on my face. It had been a long time since I’d been caught in a warm summer rain, and this may have been the last really warm one for a while. It felt like one final gift from this season. A wild, uninvited, a little ridiculous, and somehow still sacred, gift.Though my shoes were squishy for the rest of the day, and I could have done without that, being soaked in the rain reminded me that sometimes it's ok to be caught unprepared. It can be a chance to be in the moment. To laugh at yourself. To embrace what is, and to find joy where you can.
My prayer for you this week is for a bit of something unexpected that fills your heart with the goodness of the world, the goodness of God dancing all around us (whether in raindrops or otherwise!). My prayer for you this week is for a wild, sacred, interruption somewhere in your day that offers you a surprise moment of joy.