That mention of Feuerbach and joy reminded me of something I saw early one morning a few years ago, as I was walking up to the church. There was a young couple strolling along half a block ahead of me. The sun had come up brilliantly after a heavy rain, and the trees were glistening and very wet. On some impulse, plain exuberance, I suppose, the fellow jumped up and caught hold of a branch, and a storm of luminous water came pouring down on the two of them, and they laughed and took off running…. It is easy to believe in such moments that water was made primarily for blessing, and only secondarily for growing vegetables or doing the wash. …This is an interesting planet. It deserves all the attention you can give it.
From Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
