Rain on the mountain..

Growing up in a christian home I heard the Bible applied to our daily lives more often than not. God gave me parents and a family that influenced me in such great ways and have made what I do now possible.

One of the verses that I grew up hearing was Matthew 5:45  “[God] …sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”

I always understood it to say that to mean that hard times come to good and bad people.

As a culture we as Americans hold punctuality  as a core value.  Whether that is arriving at work , beginning church service on time, showing up to a meeting before it is time to meet or that plethora of other examples that we may be able to think of in our daily lives; “on-timeness” allows us to be highly productive and thus successful and fulfilled people.

A rainy day for us is synonymous with a bad day, and for many even depression.

Rain gets in our way…

It messes up our plans…

It complicates things

In Honduras punctuality is not held as highly on the cultural value scale as are things like relationships.   It is not uncommon for someone to be late for a meeting and upon arriving to announce;

“Sorry for being late, I had a inconvenience.”

More often than not that is the end of the matter.  No further explanation, no inquiries by the others present, Just “OK, im glad you’re here!”

Hondurans are not plagued by clocks.

If someone comes by the house as they are leaving they will stay for a while and visit with them..  Thus resulting in tardiness!

As I began to work in here in Honduras I ran into all of this seeming backwards thinking and began to struggle with this, however, I came to realise many times their being late isn’t meant as an insult or offence, it is a result of them putting value on someone else time and life.

You see.. Honduras is still, even in 2016, a traditional agricultural society and traditional agriculture depends on weather cycles (rain, sunshine, dry weather, etc.) for the survival of the majority of the rural people.

 

Without rain crops don’t grow and in a place where cash money is less common than commodities the food that one is able to obtain is directly linked to how much steady rainfall the land receives!

Seeds planted – Rain= no food

Seeds planted + Rain = FOOD!!

Traditional agriculture requires a lot of patience and faith. When we plant, it is with faith that rains will come to nourish the seeds and give a harvest!

 

Yesterday as I was driving out of the mountains, returning home from the village of Mercedes I was caught in the middle of a rainstorm.

A rather poor picture of the awesome students of mine from Mercedes!!!

Admittedly torrential rain on our roads do not make for the most ideal driving conditions, but I was reminded of Matthew 5:45 and the new understanding I have of it since living in Honduras and thanked God for the rains he was sending to nourish the fields!

 

“[God] …sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”

 

Despite all the evil that goes on in this world, God still blesses us!

 

Rain is actually a blessing to help what we have planted to grow and produce fruit!

 

With this understanding we then must ask ourselves…

 

When the rains of life come to give increase to the seeds I’m planting will it be good fruit??

 

 

 

What kind of seeds are you sowing??

 

-Clay-