If we were to see an oasis in the desert, we should be victims of an illusion. We should be seeing something that wasn’t there. It would be a trick of the light. Something similar is the way we see in a drawing what may be (a) a box or (b) the interior of a box.
A rainbow is quite different. True, when we see a rainbow, we see something that isn’t there. But that does not make it an illusion. It is a play of light but it is light analysed, light broken down into its constituent parts. The rainbow shows us what light is.
Those former generations who gazed in wonder at a spectacular display did not know the half of it. They called it Iris and saw it as one of the goddesses in the pantheon. Iris did not stay n the sky. She came into the garden. She doesn’t stay there. She becomes one of those flowers who are appropriated to serve as girls’ names, as are Violet, Jasmine and Edelweiss.
Before people like Isaac Newton began to study light, a rainbow was a mystery and a majestic mystery at that. Holy wells and sacred trees were homely, domestic items. They could not compete with the planets and the Dog Star when it came to investigating man’s place in the cosmos. And they could not outdo the rainbow in terms of breath-taking wonder.
Special it was, too, to biblical writers. In Genesis 9 we find the rainbow as a covenant sign, a guarantee that God would protect his people (and not just the children of Israel) in an ordered world. In God’s world the glory of the rainbow is seen with the eyes of a poet, not with the eyes of an optical scientist. This view persists into the last book of the Bible where the rainbow joins gold, precious stones and other treasures to build up an idea of surpassing heavenly wonder.
This takes us right out of the down-to-earth world of, say, Mark’s Gospel. It suggests splendour requiring the appreciative eye of the imagination rather than the sceptical scrutiny of the deductive observer. Only the imagination can serve the human longing for supreme satisfaction. In this life that longing can find only a limited fulfilment.
HOSPICE
Rainbows is the name of a hospice for children and young people in Loughborough. ‘Help us brighten short lives,’ it says. It has been going since 1994. Among its supporters is a former well-known football captain who donated £10k.
WEDNESDAY STALL
A Traidcraft stall welcomes customers every Wednesday at Trinity church, Leek. The church was formed by the merging in 1977 of United Reformed and Methodist churches. It is supported by Leek parish church, a team of five parishes led by Team Rector Nigel Irons.
CHILD FRIENDLY
For the third time St Mary’s, Wavertree has received the Child Friendly Award from the diocese of Liverpool. It also serves as a foodbank hub. June Asquith leads the team. St Mary’s church was built in 1872 as a Methodist church. In 1949 it was purchased and became a parish church.
VAN GOGH
A painting by Van Gogh (Wheatfields under Thunderclouds) and questions arising served to stimulate prayer at St Andrew’s Scottish Episcopal Church, Kelso, Scottish borders. Bob King leads the ministry team.
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