Perusing petrichor

Rhona Cathcart October 14, 2023 4 5

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2 Samuel 23: 2-4 (NRSVA)

2

The spirit of the Lord speaks through me,
    his word is upon my tongue.

3 

The God of Israel has spoken,
    the Rock of Israel has said to me:
One who rules over people justly,
    ruling in the fear of God,

4 

is like the light of morning,
    like the sun rising on a cloudless morning,
    gleaming from the rain on the grassy land.

I have been using Scots weather words all week and yet there are a number of expressions I haven’t had a chance to use, like the classic ‘dreich’ (cold, grey and miserable, but not necessarily actually raining); the entertaining ‘thunder plump’ (a sudden thunderstorm) or the evocative sounding ‘uplowsin’ (heaving rain) or ‘stoating’ (rain so heavy that drops bounce off the ground).

Rain makes a great metaphor, partly because it is so good at establishing and conveying mood. The reason we have so many expressions for rain in Scotland is because our topography and climate give us a wide variety of different kinds of weather, many —if not all — of which involve rain. If there’s a mood out there humans are capable of having, we probably have a way of describing this in weather terms.

But I confess I couldn’t quite find the right Scots one for David’s reflection on leadership at the end of a long life of ups and downs. His mood is somewhat bittersweet, perhaps a little ‘greetie’. The word comes from the Scots word ‘greet’ (meaning ‘cry’), and describes a showery tear-like rain.

But David’s images are also uplifting, particularly “like the sun rising on a cloudless morning, / gleaming from the rain on the grassy land.”The English word ‘petrichor’ captures some of this in aromatic terms — petrichor being the smell which can accompany the first rain after a period of warm, dry weather. Apparently humans are very sensitive to petrichor (90% of us can smell it) because our ancestors’ survival often depended on rain.

That gentle, aromatic uplift is where I would like to leave us this week, as it reminds us of the never ending renewal of life and the generative, restorative leadership of God’s kingdom.

And if the smell, or thinking of the smell, makes you want to splash in a few ‘dubbs’ (puddles), feel free!

PRAYER:

Restoring Lord

No matter the weather,

may we see and smell your renewing spirit,

Ever returning, ever reviving

In and through, and at the end of all our ‘greeting’

Like the sun rising on a cloudless morning, gleaming from the rain on the grassy land.

Amen