Of Rainbows

Video Version Here

Rainbows have been seen as signs of hope ever since God placed one in the sky after the great flood.

My eyes were recently opened to a slightly different interpretation of the rainbow from the Genesis story.

If you grew up going to Sunday School, then you know the story of Noah, the arc, and the rainbow, but I’ll tell it anyway.

Noah, a righteous man of God, was told by God that a great flood was coming and that it would destroy all the creatures of the earth. God instructed Noah to build a huge ship, an arc, to house two of every kind of animal and the members of Noah’s own family so that they would all be safe during the flood. Noah’s neighbors laughed at him, but God did send a flood, and Noah’s family and the arc full of animals survived. After the catastrophe, God placed a rainbow in the sky as a sign that God would never again destroy the earth with water.

What I hadn’t considered before was the actual word “rainbow.”

In the original text and in early biblical versions of the story, God declares, “I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.” (Gen. 9:13, King James Version) Later versions of the Bible substituted “rainbow” for “bow” because that’s exactly what the text meant, but that substitution dilutes the original meaning of God’s action. To the original tellers and listeners of the story, the rainbow was seen as God’s actual bow, as in “bow and arrow.” God laid down God’s weapon and promised never to destroy the earth again.

So underlying all the beauty and awe of the rainbow, there is a message of peace as well as hope.

Too, many people see rainbows as signs of confirmation.

On a personal level, one particular rainbow sighting was a sign to me at a crucial point in my husband, Harvey’s care. A rainbow, at just the right time, confirmed to me that I was making the right choice about placing him in memory care. His dementia had become too difficult for me, and even his paid caregivers, but I struggled to make that decision. I told this story in my memoir and on stage at a Moth StorySLAM event three years ago. The link to view my five minute telling is here.

Beyond peace, hope, and confirmation, rainbows also express joy. There is just something magical about all those colors juxtaposed next to each other in the sky after a rainstorm.

The most magical rainbow I witnessed was last autumn.

I was at the lake with five friends for the afternoon. The day started out dreary and cloudy, and then it rained a bit. When the rain cleared, we ventured outside, and one of my friends spotted a rainbow. All the rainbows I had previously seen had been off in the distance, but this one appeared to be very close to the house. As I traced its arc, I saw that one end of the bow landed on my pier! Really! We could see the absolute end of the rainbow on my pier.

Unfortunately, there was no pot of gold, but seeing that rainbow was treasure enough for me.