God's artistry

went for a walk with my wife last evening. a heavy afternoon rain had just passed and finally the heat was beaten back. but the clouds still held on. there were low dark clouds that were breaking up, but high above them was an overcast that covered nearly the whole sky. nearly, because off to the west a break in the clouds let some late afernoon azure sky show through. the edges of the opening were painted with yellow, pink and orange, highlighted by the sun. to the southeast, a double rainbow. my wife noticed that in the major bow the colors went blue-green-yellow-red, and in the minor bow they were reversed.

i wished i had brought my camera. so much beauty to behold. maybe the camera would not have captured enough to convey it, but i knew my words never could either. so i just admired it all, let it sink into my memory. it will fade, i'm sure. but maybe my soul will absorb it somehow and make something good grow inside me.

i once heard a man remark that art is not a 'luxury', that even primitive people decorated the earthenware they made for daily use. a decorated bowl does not hold meal any better than an unadorned one, but it makes it more appealing somehow. a setting of flowers on a dining table doesn't make the food taste any better. the colors we paint our homes doesn't make them keep out the storms any better. but still, they make the difference between living and simply existing.

so the rain we have had too little of was welcome relief. everything that suffered the endless days of scorching heat breathed fresh at last, greened, grew, and blossomed. God didn't have to make creation so beautiful, but it seems to have been his pleasure to do so. i am in awe.