Look for the Rainbow
We left the mountains yesterday early to drive across the state before the tail of the dragon started swishing its way across the inland counties we had to drive through before it reached the mountains, and after it left the coast; a narrow time frame. Many times, the tail of the storm is worse than its bite. But, in the end, there is always the rainbow.
There is nothing like a catastrophe to remind us that our lives aren’t about us. We are all part of God’s great design, for however long that is. We aren’t in control, though we keep grabbing on, trying to be God. This life we have, is not our project. We must keep our eye on that rainbow. A sign from our project manager.
I feel sorry for the worriers who blame others for the destruction of the planet and worry about its demise, and those who lose sleep over Climate Change, as if it’s the monster of destruction in and of itself. Do these doomsday worriers not realize there is a huge difference in God’s Time and the hands of their Rolex? Our lives are but a moment!! In that moment we are called to be our best selves, to love one another and care for our environment, trusting and serving God. Worriers, why are you worrying? Why are you losing sleep?
God said to Noah…and Noah trusted God. What caused that flood? Maybe it was a hurricane. It was certainly 40 days of rain. Was there great wind tossing the ark to Mt. Ararat? Perhaps a storm surge was involved. Poor drainage? Does it matter? All these centuries later, the flood still comes. We get warnings days, weeks in advance, plenty of time to build the ark, board the windows, gather our loved ones, and pray. And the water comes. There is great suffering. Then there is a rainbow. It’s not about us. It’s about that rainbow.
There have been disasters from the beginning of our recorded time. Pompeii, Vesuvius, earthquakes, floods. Things wash away, like our old high school football field. Sometimes places are never rebuilt, never reopened, never even found. Sometimes they become something better. The tail of the hurricane a few years ago caused the sides of a valley in our mountains to cave. Mud and boulders buried homes, barns, and people. The world ended for them. The rest of the community rebuilt. New trees grow where once stood their orchards. Their loved ones remember, and the museum records it. We are all part of a plan that works, from Creation to the end of the world. Doesn’t matter how long that is. Think in your own time of things lost, buried, rebuilt, repurposed.
Climate, too, is changing. It has always been changing. Our civilization is changing. It has always been changing. We need to make our seconds count, we need to infuse them with our best selves. But don’t think for a minute that we are going to redesign the plan. We are called only to have faith, an attitude of trust in the constant presence of God, infinite, all-powerful God, and we are never in control. We cannot produce the rainbow.
We can heed the warning, build our ark, board windows, stack sandbags, close the shop, and go to higher ground; praise God for his mercy, and look for the rainbow. Always look for the rainbow.