Have you ever experienced going home from work or school, walking just a few meters away from your doorstep when suddenly, unexpected rain pours in? Having no umbrella, you have no choice but to face the rain. Running the remaining distance is futile as you’re already soaking wet. And when you finally arrive home, your housemates would ask “Why didn’t you bring an umbrella?”

This happened to me. More than once. And when asked why I have no umbrella, I just smiled and said nothing.

It’s rainy season right now in my country, the Philippines. Rainshowers come and go as they please, and sometimes without warning. No thunder and lightning to give you advanced signals. It will just pour down on you almost at the blink of an eye. I go to work everyday, bringing nothing but my small bag, and still no umbrellas. Why?

Because for me, getting caught in the rain is a form of blessing. Now don’t get me wrong here, I’m not a religious person and I don’t practice going to church on sundays. But I do believe there are supreme beings guiding our daily lives. With that said, rainy season is a season of penance for me.

Being caught in unexpected rain is like being punished for something bad that you did. A bad deed perhaps or responsibilities you ignored. Being blessed by the rain is like a penance. It soaks us wet, giving us hassle and possible humiliation from others, especially to those who have umbrellas. Not to mention that you can catch cold, cough and/or fever. But at the same time, it cleanses us. It is both a punishment and a gift. It is like being forgiven for your bad deeds by consuming you and cleansing you at the same time.

Of course, if rain is expected to come and it is obviously going to pour anytime soon, then that is the only instance that I will bring in umbrella. Because it is expected to rain. On normal days though, I don’t think of umbrellas.

But the rains that come down on you when you’re caught off guard, for me, those are blessings in disguise. I don’t shield them. I let them come and consume me. For once it is over, I have been cleansed once again.

And that is why most of the time, I don’t use umbrellas.

(image courtesy of http://www.ghdweb.com)