The waterfall is heard before you see it. The thunderous torrent crashing on the rocks resounds about the valley.
As you approach, the mist becomes visible, as vapour bubbles up from the torrent. The spray blows far and wide so that when you come close you are soon soaked. From close up you can barely see the path of the waterfall as the clouds of mist and spray obscure its fall. Yet you can feel the reverberation through the ground.
The waterfall is mighty! People come from far and wide to see the waterfall. It is celebrity. People want to be like the waterfall, strong, impressive, powerful.
But strangely the waterfall does little more than make noise and spit before the water passes on calmly through the valley.
And then there is the rain. A drop here, a drop here. Sometimes barely noticed other times an inconvenience. It is not significant. People are rarely impressed by it. More often they hide from the rain.
Yet it is the rain that brings life. The rain that cleans the earth and waters the plants. Rain is the bounty that we yearn for when it has not come for a while. It is the rain that makes the waterfall and nourishes the plants around the waterfall. Without the rain, there is no waterfall.
Surely it is the rain that is celebrity, not the waterfall.
Yet we are confused. We go out of our way and spend money to see the waterfall, but we hide from the rain.
That is the problem with our culture. We praise the big, blustery noise maker, impressive as he is, while shunning the small guy that touches us with life and love. While we laud the celebrity, we forget the people, including our friends and family. The consequence is a hole in the ground and a parched soul.
Are you The Waterfall or The Rain?
Spare a moment for the people around you. And love your mum, not the egomaniac on the magazine cover.
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