Genesis 9:12-13

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.”
 

Atop Mount Erie, near Anacortes, Washington, the view of the Puget Sound offers calm to the soul. Across Montana, especially in Glacier Park, lush coniferous trees, with a few red, gold, or orange deciduous ones, line roads. Waterfalls pour from high above on the south side of the highway running along the Columbia River where it forms Oregon’s northern border. What amazing beauty God has created!

On the last morning of our vacation, driving out of Laramie, Wyoming, intermittent sprinkles dotted the windshield. We were noting the rugged beauty of the rocks that, eons ago, had been thrust up to jutting angles. The horizon revealed both distant rain and the light of sunrise to the east. For some reason, I turned my head to the right and there, out that window, a clear, huge rainbow had appeared. Wow. Amazing! That rainbow was a vivid reminder that God keeps God’s promises.

God is powerful and imaginative. There is so much diversity in what God has created. Areas dotted with sagebrush contrast with other spaces completely covered by green vegetation. Tiny bees land and drink from a variety of flowers – rhododendrons in Tacoma, Washington, columbine near Aspen, Colorado, or purple coneflowers in Wichita, all provide sweet nectar for the insects. God must delight in differentness. What a wide variety of creatures God has created along with the various features of the natural world. All kinds of humans populate the regions of this earth.

All of this reminds us, too, that God remains present. God is there wherever we turn and whatever the happenings of the day, in our lives and in the world. Like ancient rock formations or vast ocean waters, God’s presence is solid and reliable. That presence accompanies us each day. As we open our minds and hearts, God’s consistent caring for and joy in each of us can fill and overwhelm us, providing joy and hope for the events of our days. How can we help but say “thank you” for such a gift? Telling others about God’s ever-available, eternal love might bring this earthly creation a bit closer to God’s intent. Acting in loving, caring ways in the hurting world would be a constructive response. Let’s each choose, today, how to give thanks, and then do it!

 

Prayer for Reflection

Lamentations 1:1-6
Lamentations 3:19-26
Psalm 137
Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4
Psalm 37:1-9
2 Timothy 1:1-14
Luke 17:5-10