It’s dry here, obviously. (“It is the desert, Dave” I hear you saying). But it is really dry. Skin is dry and itchy. Wet clothes dry fast on a clothes line. It’s pretty crazy. But I didn’t realize just how dry it was until a few days ago, when it rained for the first time since I’ve been here.
I woke up and opened the door to my “hooch” (that’s what we call our rooms, a far cry from the barracks, but still pretty austere), and looked on the ground, I saw the spots of a light drizzle in the dust. As I stepped out to walk to the showers, I took a deep breath and for the first time, realized just how dry the air used to be, and how great it was to have some moisture in the air. It was amazing, the air was fresh, cool. It was like pure oxygen was dropping from the sky.
It must be the rainy season here, because since that first time, it’s rained 4 or 5 times. (You probably heard of the snow that fell in Baghdad recently) Although the fine desert sand turns into brown cement on your boots, the air is fresh. I love it.
Peterson’s “The Message” bible references this refreshing rain in a Psalm I ran across today–Psalm 72. I’ll put it in wider context, as it makes a great prayer:
Please stand up for the poor,
help the children of the needy,
come down hard on the cruel tyrants.
Outlast the sun, outlive the moon—
age after age after age.
Be rainfall on cut grass,
earth-refreshing rain showers.
Let righteousness burst into blossom
and peace abound until the moon fades to nothing.
Rule from sea to sea,
from the River to the Rim.