Over the last year we have been more aware of rainbows – not necessarily in the sky but in windows, doors, children’s drawings, in fact everywhere. It has become a symbol of support for people wanting to uphold NHS workers. It was created by a nurse who wanted to create a sign of hope for patients and staff in hospitals across the country.
As a child I was told that the rainbow had a pot of gold at the end and often wanted to find it but could never see the end! I could never understand why my father wouldn’t try and find it!!
The rainbow flag is a symbol of the LGBTQ Movement and South Africa is known as the Rainbow Nation with all the rainbow colours in its flag.
In Greek Orthodoxy iconography the rainbow is one of the symbols of divine wisdom which expresses the beauty of the unity of the whole creation with Christ at the Centre.
In the Bible in Genesis 9 the rainbow was described as a sign of the mercy of God and God’s promise that the waters will never again become a flood to destroy all life. In Ezekiel 1 we read that the colours of the rainbow are the reflection of God’s glory.
The verse from a hymn (StF636) which means so much to me, and many others, reads:
I trace the rainbow through the rain
And feel the promise is not vain
That morn shall tearless be.
Originally the writer, George Matheson, wrote “I climb the rainbow” and perhaps this is what most of us do when we are faced with the problems of life. So we must cling onto our faith and believe that the rainbow ahead of us is a promise of God’s presence. It is a sign of God’s love to encourage us to go on climbing in confidence that rainbow promises are being fulfilled.
May God bless you all.