When it suddenly appeared yesterday ( I didn’t hear or see it form )
I had a chance to experience the quiet of a storm.
I was enjoying a beautiful afternoon…surveying our domain
when in the midst of all the sunshine…it began to rain.
No thunder…no lightning…which, at first, made it hard to tell
until I saw raindrops glistening in the sun as to the ground they fell.
Some raindrops landed on the leaves of many an outstretched tree
and when I stuck my hand out…some found their way to me.
Standing there and watching…not only was I thoroughly entertained
but I found myself mesmerized by the gentleness of the rain.
And I thought how the message we are sending on the wind these days
is so completely wrong….
How it’s not the loud, the brash, the cruel and abusive…
but the gentle who are strong.
Just as there is no soil rough enough that a gentle rain can’t smooth…
there is no heartache deep enough that a gentle touch can’t soothe.
Many a soul has been softened by the gentleness of a rhyme
and even the strongest hate can be mellowed by a gentle love through time.
I have seen the full and heavy branches gently bow
so people can pick apples from their trees…..
and who out there has not been cooled by a gentle summer breeze.
Yes, gentleness is all around us…if we stop to look a while
A gentle walk, a gentle word, a gentle squeeze…a gentle smile.
Perhaps the value of a life is in the way we allow our gentleness to flow…
perhaps we’re meant to live a gentle life…filled with gentle love…
and in the end…just like a summer rain…
Move on gently when it’s time to go.
