Day 15: April Showers Bring May Flowers, Chesed B’Tiferet

Today is Day 15 of the counting of the omer. Love in compassion. It was a very rainy morning with strong, gusty thunderstorms. Can rain be a sign of lovingkindness and compassion? I think so. Now I admit. I didn’t want to get out of bed. I was pleased the puppy was not awakened by the storm nor scared by it. I sure was. But later in the day, I found two fields of flowers where there had been none yesterday. One was a field of purple blossoms taking up an entire front lawn.

IMAG0729

The other were golden daffodils planted along a fairly ugly stretch of rail track. I remember an early poem of Sarah’s about daffodils and how they raise their heads and kiss the sun.

Tiferet’s other meaning is beauty. It was clear in both cases that the someone had taken the time to plant these beautiful things to make the world a better place. To show love in compassion. To brighten up our day on a cloudy overcast day. To bring us a little burst of joy when we see them. It also takes a balance between sun and rain to make them  flower. So yes, rain can be a sign of G-d’s love and compassion. It is raining again. Pouring really. Our area in the Fox River Valley is under a flood watch. Again it is about achieving balance. My theology does not extend to believing that G-d is punishing us for some sin and that is why the river could flood. My believe is that we are partners with G-d in this beautiful creation and somehow we humans have the balance out of whack. With great compassion and great love we can turn this earth back around but it will take great work. It will also take restraint as we learned about last week. The effort will be worth it for our children and grandchildren.

I am reminded of Honi the Circle Drawer, he was asked why he was planting a carob tree when it would take so long to bear fruit. He answered, “As my ancestors have planted for me, so I plant for my children and grandchildren.” Honi also prayed for rain.

Some of the books about counting the omer have very different things to say about today. One talks about it in terms of tiferet bringing in a third dimenstion, that of truth, the integration between love and discipline. It requires selflessness, rising above your ego. It asks,  “Is your compassion tender and loving or does it come across as pity? Is your sympathy condescending and patronizing? Does your compassion overflow with love and warmth; is it expressed with enthusiasm, or is it static and lifeless?”

Another one talks about the balance as being able to find the balance between rigidity and flexibility. It is about finding the nuance. The world is not black and white, it is full of color as today’s flowers prove.

It is easier to see the world in black and white, to put people into boxes, to judge them based on first appearances. But the world has a full spectrum of color and G-d has a glorious paintbrush. Once I went horseback riding near sunset in the Grand Tetons. The forest floor was a carpet of wildflowers in colors I could barely name let alone imagine. I tried to write a poem about it but the words did not do it justice. Neither did the photos I took. Sometimes colors can be felt even more than seen.

Sometimes in our frazzled world it is like looking through a kaleidoscope. But we need to put the pieces of our broken lives back together in order to see the full range of color, the full beauty.

May we learn to see the people around us in all of their complexity, with as many facets as a diamond reflecting light through a prism. May we slow down enough to see the beauty, to feel the colors. May we all be able to turn our faces to the sun and be kissed by G-d, then we will know G-d’s love in compassion.

Gates of Prayer has this prayer as part of the Amidah:
“We pray for winds to disperse the choking air of sadness, for cleansing rains to make parched hopes flower, and to give all of us the strength to rise up towards the sun….We pray for love to encompass us for no other reason save that we are human—that we may all blossom into persons who have gained power over our lives….Praise to the God whose gift is life, whose cleansing rains let parched men and women flower toward the sun.”

May tonight’s rain be gentle and bring those May flowers. Then we can truly smile and know that we are loved.