2 Corinthians 9 - Otsukaresama

This morning’s rain wasn’t one of those soaking rains where you are wet within a few moments of being outside. Nor was it just a misty type of morning where you feel the moisture in the air. Instead it was one of those mornings where the rain drops felt like the tiniest little drops that could be felt seemingly individually. It was that kind of rain that, if you were just zipping out to the car or the mailbox for something, you wouldn’t feel like you really got wet. But, as I was, if you are out for like an hour in it, you are soaked. I was trying to figure out the best photo to take of this kind of rain and I saw the tiniest water droplets on Scout’s fur (not dandruff).

Ok so what does this have to do with the Japanese word Otsukaresama? I learned about that word in a beautiful intersection of several pieces of my morning meditation time. In my guided meditation (Thank you Calm), I learned about this word which is used to thank others for their hard work on your behalf. [Click here for a longer description of this very interesting word](https://www.japanintercultural.com/en/news/default.aspx?newsid=276). So, the meditation was speaking to being intentionally aware and grateful for the people in your life who have made an impact. When the podcast finished, I did my daily reading (2 Corinthians 9) where Paul speaks of his gratitude for their generosity on behalf of other believers in Jerusalem and how he was bragging to the church in Macedonia about the Corinthians’ generosity. He writes:

...for I know your eagerness, which is the subject of my boasting about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year; and your zeal has stirred up most of them

So this is where we come back to the rain on my walk. As I felt each of those drops I got thinking about the many people who have made an impact in my life. Some of them are people who have been with me my whole life, others for a season, and of course others that have come along and with whom I continue to journey. And the beauty is that each one by themselves make a difference but when they start to all come together, it is so much more. Just like those tiny raindrops...when they all come together, you can get pretty wet. So to each (who I am naming below with just first initials and this isn’t even everyone) for all the ways that you have changed my life, I simply say...Otsukaresama. To whom can you offer that same blessing?

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