FROM THE EDITORS May 24, 2010 Issue

ENOUGH RAIN

FIRST, SOME GOOD NEWS. In the most stunning turnaround since record keeping began, over 92 percent of the United States is now drought-free. You'd have to trek all the way to a remote patch of Hawaii to find extreme drought. As recently as the summer of 2007, almost 50 percent of the country was in a state of drought.

Now, some even better news. Being drought-free is not an anomaly. Spiritual realities and divine laws make a difference. When glimpsed in prayer, they tend to buttress the good that's happening right now, and the hope for more good in the years ahead. What are those realities? Things like these: God is pure Spirit. His universe is flawlessly and endlessly spiritual. What are those laws? Things like this: His power preserves His realm in perfect balance.

In the past, when times were tough and fields were dry, we argued in this column for the benefits of a prayer-based response. In one way or another, such a response acknowledges the divine hand as bigger than the weather, more powerful than the elements. The divine hand is therefore present and active in maintaining all the good that deserves to be maintained. Now, times are not so tough. Fields are no longer parched. (At least in the US. Elsewhere on the planet there's a clear need for more prayer and more rain.) So, we don't want to abandon the perspective from which those prayers are seen to have made a difference. In other words, it makes sense to pause, and to give thanks to the Almighty. Gratitude to God not only gives credit where credit is due. It also keeps thought open to receive further blessings from above. Blessings that are planet-wide.

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