Photo credit: Elizabeth Marino
We stood together on an overlook in the Bedford Reservation last Saturday morning, the clear blue skies and bright sunshine adding a gorgeous backdrop to the scenery. I was holding my 4-year-old granddaughter when she leaned back, looked straight up at the sky, and shouted, “A rainbow!” We all looked up and saw a small patch of color in the distinctive ROYGBV pattern. We all started shouting, “A rainbow! Without rain!” “Look, it’s getting bigger!” “Look! It’s upside down! It looks like a smile!” “Look, there’s another straight one coming off of it!” “Now it’s a double rainbow!” “IT’S NOT RAINING! How is there a rainbow without rain??” My daughters whipped out their phones to take pictures, as did my son-in-law even while he held the baby. Over the next several minutes we watched the rainbow grow bigger and brighter as the picture-taking and exclamations of wonder continued. We then noticed a few hikers approaching the overlook; when we called out to them, “Look! There’s a rainbow!” they just stared at us as if they were trying to figure out the punch line to our joke. Then they looked up and saw this smiling bow for themselves.
Later that day, we saw four woodpeckers flying together and landing on trees near each other in the woods. This also was a treat, as we couldn’t remember ever seeing that many woodpeckers in the same place.
It was difficult to write off these unusual occurrences as mere flukes of nature. Instead, we thanked God for sending us these gifts from heaven, for finding yet another way to let us know that He’s with us, right here and right now.
We never know when our Lord will make His presence known to us, do we? When we hear any reference to our Lord’s coming we assume it’s talking about the end of the world. Maybe sometimes that’s the case, but that’s not the only meaning behind the phrase. In the Lord’s Prayer we pray, ‘Thy kingdom come… on earth as it is in heaven.’ We pray for His kingdom to be brought to earth now, don’t we? And if we ask for it, why wouldn’t it happen? Why wouldn’t He find ways to come to us now?
And when we encounter Him in these mysterious ways, how do we respond?
He might show Himself to us as a confused teenager. When we patiently listen to her, we bring His kingdom to earth.
He might come to us as an aloof coworker, who could be dealing with a difficult situation we know nothing about. When we’re friendly to him, we bring His kingdom to earth.
And, of course, He just might show Himself to us through His wonders of nature – including a smiling rainbow – to remind us that He’s with us, here and now.
“Keep watch, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.” – Matthew 24:42
“Lord, help me keep my eyes open for Your presence here with me.”
Thank you for reading my reflection. © 2023 Gina Bedell Comments are always welcome!
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