Appearances

 The front of our house faces, among other things, the side of a building that is home to a casual, but fairly upscale restaurant. Certainly our street is busier since they opened, but most of the time I don't mind the comings and goings. Last night as I was preparing for bed a little early with the intention to read, I heard a woman exclaim, "Look! A rainbow!" I looked out the window and saw her aiming her cell phone to the sky. I had to go and see for myself. Yes, I was in my pajamas.

When I got to the sidewalk, I could see no rainbow, but the light was beautiful. The sky was full of pink, orange, and blue hues. My eyes scanned once more, and sure enough I spotted what looked to be a faint portion of a rainbow. I quickly called out to Tyler to come and see. As we stood together, we saw the lovely full arch of a rainbow stretch across the clouds as the sun set behind us. It was mesmerizing. Two of our neighbors came out to inquire what we were looking at. We don't often see them, and we had a nice chat, more or less under the rainbow. We were surrounded by color. The moment seemed so full of the splendor and the silence of God. I was filled with trust and love. No, I did not try to photograph this faint but glorious rainbow stretching across the sky. The young woman who did take a photograph did not linger long enough to witness the rainbow unfold. She and the person she was with had driven away by the time I came outside. I am grateful for her sighting, and inadvertently alerting me to what was about to be revealed. I was reminded of the gift of sometimes just not needing to be anywhere but right where I had been planted.

The sun dropped beneath the horizon, and night began. One cannot hold on to these moments. There is no hold button, nor can we rewind. The best we can do is to linger and give thanks, and remember as best we can.

I did do a Google search on rainbows when there is no rain. What came up were the terms, fire rainbow and cloud iridescence. I think I will simply call it a miracle. I recently listened to a podcast with Dacher Keltner, a psychology professor at UC Berkeley and the author of the book, Awe. He contends, and I must agree, that a sense of awe is essential for our well being and sense of wholeness. I think each of us would benefit from paying attention to what gives us a sense of awe, and celebrate those discoveries as they arise.

    

image: San Leandro, May 2024