LIFE IS TOUGH! It is unfair, untidy, ignoble in many respects, competitive, full of disease and disaster and takes an extraordinary measure of coping and nobility simply to make a decent “GO” of it. Yet life has its high points. It is important to draw these high points out from the basic backdrop and undercurrent of life.
Some of the most unusual – at least most indelibly memorable – high points happen in immediate juxtaposition to low points. I continue to be intrigued by unusual coincidences in such circumstances that I can only attribute to a Higher Presence at work in the universe. I have lost count of the number of times my back has literally been “pinned against the wall” in needing to speak to someone and then they pass me in the hallway or call ME on the phone at the very last make-or-break moment. Somehow, when there is no way out and nowhere else to turn, an unexpected door opens. I call these incidents “God’s Little Rainbows”. A couple of examples are shared here:
“WHISPERS IN THE WIND”
A RAINBOW
(November 1988)
Serendipity only occurs to those with a prepared mind;
Seeds of Faith to those with a prepared Heart.
Lew Kelly
It was such a small thing ___ a penny found on the road. But it seemed incredibly coincidental:
The cares of the day weighed heavier than usual and it seemed important to clear the mind with an evening walk. It was a bit chilly, even for November, but a walk for some fresh air seemed to be a compelling, prescriptive mandate. While putting on my hat and coat, the plaintive folk song began to emerge: “If in your pocket you haven’t got a penny …, as for your friends, well, there ain’t too many … “ It played over and over. “Nobody knows you, when you’re down and out …”
Just two blocks down the street an incredibly strange and wonder-full encounter occurred. Under a flickering street light, glistening among the dry leaves as the wind blew across the street, was a bright, copper penny. The whole world stopped in that moment, and I absolutely froze. The chill in the air was no match for the chill that went down my spine!!
How did it get there?
under this light …
this night …
And why did I choose THIS route to follow?
And why was I humming this particular song … THEN?
And why did that little puff of wind come up just at that moment to scatter the leaves?
I could have called it a mere coincidence, or I could have called it a Revelation. I could have called it a deeply Spiritual experience.
What I ended up calling it was a RAINBOW …
… a mark of God’s Presence along the way …
… not a Covenant or a promise or some kind of “Baptism” or some show of Special Favor,
Just a simple, definitive statement: “I Am that I Am … “
…. Someone who Knows you when you’re down and out.
Over the years, I have collected over 500 “Rainbow” coins of all denominations on my neighborhood walks. They just keep showing up … usually when and where least expected … and I keep looking after them as the priceless treasures they are to me.
Kelly’s Rainbow Theology
2007
Life remains fascinating with all the questions that arise and the great wonderments to ponder!
The “Creation” museum in Northern KY has gotten much attention in the regional press lately. While rounding the track at ACS Relay for Life this year, our ever-cynical Jewish Pathologist asked (tongue in cheek) what all of us (Christian) “Creationists” (notwithstanding the fact that he bears the Old Testament connection!) thought about the new museum. I had to tell him “Mike, my theology is very simple: However God made it happen is OK by me!” [In fact, I think evolution is an ingenious way to carry out a plan for creation. I look forward to each new chapter being written.]
God and I have a fairly special arrangement, although I don’t suppose it’s all that unique in the grand scheme of things. He sends me “Rainbows” in the most unlikely situations. This past week I got two.
First, on Friday, I was desperate to connect with the Associate Dean about a salary proposal we had sent through the Dean’s Office to the Provost for end-of-year processing and approval. An early connect with his secretary Friday morning indicated that his schedule would be almost impossible to crack, but she would give him the message. While waiting for a call-back, I made a quick dash to the ATM for some cash and just happened to run into the Associate Dean as he was going between meetings! We addressed and resolved the problem on the spot and went merrily on with our respective schedules. Coincidences are random. This one didn’t seem to be quite random.
Second, this morning I was packed and ready to take off for my biggest Professional Development presentation yet in Louisville when, almost as an afterthought, I felt compelled to pick up an extra bottled water from the garage. There on the garage floor was the box of TOIT books I had set aside for the trip and had forgotten to pack.
I couldn’t help smiling and saying “Way to go, God!”
Some of my closest friends have more definitive ideas about the Almighty, a few beyond bordering on dogma, which I’ve always found difficult to internalize. While I enjoy and frequently seek out the views of others, I don’t believe any one person or group has the “corner” on how it all really works. God just IS, and anything beyond that is pure conjecture … except for what we see happening in our own lives, usually long after the fact. (However, I’m pretty sensitive about my “Rainbows” happening on-the-spot!) The great theologian, Paul Tillich was asked the burning question of the ’60s following a presentation I was privileged to attend in college: “So How do you really know there IS a God?” Tillich replied, simply: “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”
Each of us would like to put a complete and comprehensive theology on stone tablets for the benefit of all, but it’s not a tidy enterprise. “Now we see through a glass darkly.” I’m OK with that. So, if I can’t know everything, I’m content to know what I know and leave the rest for pure speculation. I enjoy speculation, too, but we need to keep it in perspective and not go too far over the edge and let it slip into dogma.
