"Rain and the rhinoceros" by Thomas Merton

Here is another reading that is much in the vein of my previous post of the poem "There are men too gentle to live among wolves." I post here the first paragraph from Thomas Merton's essay. You can click the link to read the wonderful rest of it:

LET me say this before rain becomes a utility that they can plan and distribute for money. By "they" I mean the people who cannot understand that rain is a festival, who do not appreciate its gratuity, who think that what has no price has no value, that what cannot be sold is not real, so that the only way to make something actual is to place it on the market. The time will come when they will sell you even your rain. At the moment it is still free, and I am in it. I celebrate its gratuity and its meaninglessness. (more)