The Fall Of Rain, explained

The name of this blog, the quote on my RoadID, and my inspiration the past few years have come from this quote. Time to 'splain myself. This is as close to biblical/religious I'll get. In some translations, it reads "whisper of rain" instead of "fall of rain". Obviously, I prefer the former.

And Iluvatar spoke to Ulmo, and said: “Seest thou not how here in this little realm in the Deeps of Time Melkor hath made war upon they province? He hath bethought him of bitter cold immoderate, and yet hath not destroyed the beauty of the fountains, nor of my clear pools. Behold the snow, and the cunning work of frost! Melkor hath devised heats and fire without restraint, and hath not dried up thy desire nor utterly quelled the music of the sea. Behold rather the height and glory of the clouds, and the everchanging mists; and listen to the fall of rain upon the earth! And in these clouds thou art drawn nearer to Manwe, thy friend, whom thou lovest.”

Then Ulmo answered: “Truly, Water is become now fairer than my heart imagined, neither had my secret thought conceived the snowflake, nor in all my music was contained the falling of the rain.”

Very briefly, Iluvatar was the "God" in Tolkien's world, and Ulmo the Ainur god of water. They were referring to Melkor, the evil Ainur "fallen angel" of Middle Earth. Tolkien fans often ponder why Iluvatar didn't remove Melkor, who was destroying the world the Ainur created. But the Silmarillion says that the Ainur can't create anything that doesn't ultimately come from Iluvator, so anything that goes against Iluvatar's desires will only enhance the creation of Iluvatar's designs.

In the above example, the Silmarillion explains that in freezing water Melkor created snowflakes; in trying to burn water he created clouds and rain. In the end, amidst the storms of fire and ice, something more beautiful was created. At first Ulmo did not appreciate that the desire to destroy something could lead to creations heretofore unimagined.

And why does this fit for me? For me, the challenge of triathlon is to always push myself to higher limits and find the edge. Sometimes it hurts to get there, psychologically and physiologically. Sometimes weather, luck, or injuries conspire against me. Yet in all the suffering, pain, fatigue, disappointments, losses...there is always something to be learned and appreciated. And when I come out the other side of these pains, I look back and see how much I've grown from the experience.

There is always something positive you can find, though I admit sometimes you really have to look for it. Hot day? Great--it's summer and the hours of daylight are the longest. Out in the heat and not enjoying it--heat acclimation training! Suffering the heat and not feeling so good--you found a weakness to work on. About to die--I'll bet it was a pretty sunrise.

So when it's hurting, or even when it's wonderful, I'll stop and listen. To my breathing, my footfalls, my heart beat, and the whisper of rain upon the earth.

MiTi is 363 days away!