Don’t Drink the Bitter Rain

There is a Burmese idiom: “Drinking the Bitter Rain.” It came from a fable about a man in an ancient village who somehow foreknew that the upcoming rain would be poisonous. It would taste bitter and cause insanity if people drank it.

In that village, every home collected rainwater for drinking. So, he announced his forecast and warned people not to collect the upcoming rainwater and never drink from it, or they would become mentally sick. However, they ignored his warning and went ahead to drink it like they always did. As a result, the entire village lost its sanity.

He was very upset to see everyone go crazy and wished they had listened to his warning. The problem is, now everyone thought he was insane. Of course, when you are the only lucid person among loonies, you are the one that appears lunatic because you behave differently.

His anxiety intensified as everyone pointed their finger at him every day, laughed at him, and called him a fool. After a while, he became lonely and felt if he didn’t join them, he would lose his mind. So, he drank a cup of the bitter rain and joined the party.

So, when you hear your Burmese friends say, “I drank the bitter rain,” they mean, “I went with the flow,” or more precisely, “I surrendered to the peer pressure,” or “I drank the Koolaid.” The subtle difference is that they gave in, knowing it was harmful.

Would you drink the bitter rain? I am sure you wouldn’t, but when the pressure is high, will you give in? What’s your threshold for drinking the bitter rain? I think this fable speaks to our times.

Before Jesus left for the cross, he warned his disciples that the world was heading to insanity and his followers would face a great deal of pressure and temptations to give in to drink the bitter rain. Otherwise, they wouldn’t fit in. Jesus said,

And because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. (Mat 24:12–13).

It’s easy to talk about love, but your love can grow cold when you see too much lovelessness and lawlessness around you. You will appear insane to practice love in a ruthless society. Just watch the news, and all you see is a dog-eat-dog world.

It becomes worse when they take advantage of you. You would be tempted to retaliate by becoming like them.

Jesus wants you to endure to the end. That means not giving in to drinking the bitter rain even if the whole world ridicules you. He said things would become worse as we approach the day of his return. He teaches us to be alert but not alarmed at times like this.

So, today, we will learn from Jesus how to resist drinking the bitter rain and keep our body, mind, and spirit awake and endure the trying times with light, love, and lucidity until he comes. Let’s begin!