Day 16: I saw a double rainbow (Dobbel regnbue), originally uploaded by Åsta.
I was out running errands when I saw it.
I had just parked my car in a shopping plaza, intent on getting what I needed and heading out to the next place on my itinerary. But my day’s agenda was put aside for a few minutes as I stared at the glorious sight in the sky—a double rainbow.
Now, until that day, I had never seen a double rainbow. I was amazed to see how a larger, semi-transparent rainbow arched over a smaller, concentric arc of vivid color, filling a good portion of the sky across the road from the shopping plaza.
People paused in their rush to load their purchases and head to the next destination to marvel at the phenomenon. Children did not have to plead with their parents to stop and look at the rainbow; instead, adults became child-like, excitedly pointing out both the dual arcs and their different stripes of color. The light drizzle didn’t keep store patrons and employees from stepping outside for a few minutes to attempt capturing the radiant majesty with their cell phones. Young and old alike called friends and family, excitedly encouraging them to step outside, to take a break and see if they too could experience the brilliance of the rainbows.
All observers were rendered almost speechless by the wonder and beauty of the rainbows. An explanation would have seemed—well, pointless.
And the scientific explanation of how rainbows are formed is far from boring. And then, the answers about rainbow formation lead to even more discoveries. Then we realize that white light is actually composed of several different colors that are visible only when the light is refracted at a certain angle; comprehend what refraction and reflection are; also grasp why the sky “changes color” at sunrise and sunset; and maybe determine why the ocean appears to be different colors when a glass of it is virtually colorless—think of all the “cool science stuff” to be learned when we use our experience of a natural phenomenon as our catalyst.
However, what if you had never seen a rainbow but instead learned about it through discussing only the scientific data, theories, and definitions of its key elements—light, reflection, and refraction? How excited would you be then?
The reduction of a phenomenon like a rainbow into merely its factual and logical elements would make me lose interest very quickly. You cannot dismiss the "magic" of something just because it's scientifically immeasurable.
We do this all too often to our understanding of God, the Bible, and theology. We get so focused on “who, what, when, where, and why” that we forget to look up and marvel at this phenomenon: a holy, eternal God took time to reach out to His depraved human creation and give them a wondrous gift, an undeserved chance to be relieved of their guilt and then spend eternity with Him. The who, the what, the why, the how—they are very important. But if we don’t take time to put our Biblical knowledge, theology, and doctrine into context—into the everyday reality that God is involved in every area of our lives—we’re missing out on experiencing the magnificent reality of God and His grace.
However, once we experience the wonder of God and His grace, we too will be motivated to learn all about Him. And that pursuit of knowing God takes more than a lifetime.
So, what is this phenomenon of grace all about? Again, I'm not a trained theologian, just a good student. But I hope that our time together in the blogosphere will both convince you of how incredible God's grace is and motivate you to pursue God for a lifetime.
