Today was a gray day, dull and free of color, the sky spitting occasional rain drops to wet the pavement and make the bamboo fronds heavy. Father Sky created a dense overcast sky and didn’t even leave a small crack in the clouds for the sun to peek through. I stared at the clouds trying to note all the different colors I could see along the horizon and I realized the day was not without color.

When I looked north I could see deep purple clouds resting on a bright white layer of clouds on the crest of the skyline. Looking over behind my house, I saw a layer of dull white thick clouds carrying no rain, crowding close together. When I looked west I saw many thin layers and colors of white and grey, cigarette and cigar smoke colored clouds seemingly mingling in a gentleman’s library, floating thinly between the dull white clouds.

Here’s a literary quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald about a grey day. “It was a grey day, that least fleshly of all weathers; a day of dreams and far hopes and clear visions. It was a day easily associated with those abstract truths and purities that dissolve in the sunshine or fade out in mocking laughter by the light of the moon. The trees and clouds were carved in classical severity; the sounds of the countryside had harmonized to a monotone, metallic as a trumpet, breathless as the Grecian urn.”

I love this quote. “Breathkess as a Grecian urn,” just conjures up wordless beauty to me and the “monotone sounds of the countryside,” I heard that today but had a metallic wail of a train on a rainy track instead of a trumpet. Grey days are days of dreams and hopes, quiet days for reflection. In these days I count my blessings and the glorious colors in my life and in my dreams.

I have a window open in my bedroom now and the rain hitting the bamboo forest makes such an enchanting sound, I imagine a long cascading waterfall in a lush green tropical forest, the waterfall rumbling over jutting black rocks, splashing into a deep clear aqua pool. I shut my eyes lulled by the symphony of the waterfall’s music and I hear soft songs of the tropical birds nesting in the ferns.

Water is so crucial to life on earth. Faith is crucial to our lives, too. Water makes life on earth possible, it sustains us yet it can so easily kill us. We are so fortunate to have clean safe water but it’s such an ordinary part of our lives we take for granted. We never worry about turning on the sink and not seeing a stream of clean water. God should never be taken for granted. We need to nourish our faith with prayer and thanksgiving every day, taking care to see our faith grow and be shared with others.

I think God’s grace rolls over us like water flows in a waterfall. God pours his love and light on us, we’re submerged in his grace, safe in his living waters, baptized with holy water. Jesus was baptized in the water of the Jordan River. He walked on water, calmed a storm on the seas, and washed the disciples feet with water. In John 7:37 Jesus said, “If anyone is thirsty let him come to Me and drink.” Jesus was giving himself as the water of eternal life. Scripture in the Bible tell us that God’s love sustains us and cleanses us of our sins. When we have faith in God our lives can become a spiritual fountain for others.

“Like a spring of pure water, God’s peace in our hearts brings cleansing and refreshment to our minds and bodies.” — Billy Graham