Note: As I am temporarily without a camera, I was not able to take photos of today’s beautiful sight. However, having no photo for illustration made me work that much harder in an effort to convey its miracle to you.

       Last night My friend Kendrick called and asked me to look up the meaning of his name. “High summit, great champion, royal power” were the meanings given. Kendrick was pleased, “I like that because you know, I feel it. Sometimes I feel like a great king and I imagine what I would do with the power and abundance. I would take all the money and give it away. I would share with all the people.” A noble thought.
       This inspired me to look up my own name. “Lisa, short for Elizabeth,” it read, “is of Hebrew origin and means God’s promise.” Ah yes, I am Lisa, God’s promise. God has given his promise to me in my name. And what is more, I’ve been given many reminders – in the rainbow.
       Every time I see a rainbow, I remember the story of Noah’s Arc. After the rain finally ended a rainbow appeared. It was God’s sign of hope to the people.
       This morning I awoke to a soft light rain yet the sun was shining – bursting into the room. I went out to the veranda to get a better look. There is nothing so beautiful as the sun shining through the rain over the jungle canopy. It broke through the clouds above the mountain and shot streaks of light into the falling rain. It lit up the cascading water in brilliant, electric, golden sparkles and topped the trees shiny green with silver edges. I impulsively grabbed an umbrella and stepped out into the street for a wider range of view. “There’s got to be a rainbow!”
       Over the ramshackle rooftops of Puerto Viejo the early morning sun settled onto the hilltop. In all directions were clouds of every kind in white, gray and indigo, spreading out to the ocean – but no rainbow. I moved on, to the waterfront’s panoramic vista. Still no rainbow but an alluring sight, nonetheless. The white rows of waves gleamed golden, embraced by sunlight. Softly they rolled, atop the dusky blue waters toward shore, caressing the curve of Puerto Viejo’s little harbor. In the distance a long expanse of palms approached the shoreline amassing into layered hills: silhouettes in shades of progressively deeper green. They spread and stretched to the infinite, then disappeared at Puerto Vargas, the distant point where land drops into the sea. The sky displayed all forms of billowing mass. Light and airy little clouds scampered like children way out at the edge of the horizon. Behind them standing watch, were their parents in blustery blue with lingering tufts of white: a tumultuous indication of their own unspent youth. Over the land was the deep dark grandfather cloud: looming, huge, strong and ominous; established in dominion. I stood enraptured by the moving picture of life before me.
       Then it happened: a rainbow suddenly sprang up from the steamy jungle arching over the grandfather cloud like an umbrella. A double arc appeared on the shore side, intensifying the misty liquid color against the charcoal clouds. Gradually the rainbow extended itself out toward the boundless sea and took anchor at the point of Puerto Vargas. From there it pulled power and strength growing to a full bloom of color right before my eyes. Magenta emerged from the atmospheric vapors and moved into deep purple, then came bright turquoise blue. An almost imperceptible white transitioned to green, which brightened into a bold, blazon yellow. Yellow grew to orange which culminated in a warm, soul encompassing red. There it was, God’s promise right before my eyes in full splendor, arching into the sky, reaching over the jungle out into the ocean. I was all but overcome with joy enfolded in the maternal rainbow arms of nature.
       Subtle changes in the sun‘s intensity threw splashes of bright green onto the layered hillside and electrified a lone tree of blossoming orange flowers. Dogs ran along the shoreline tumbling into the surf, chasing birds and lunging into the air as if to snatch the excitement. I’d never seen happier creatures. Their entire countenance was a celebration of simply being alive. I felt that feeling, too. Submerged in bliss, I absorbed every bit of it and was warmed to the core of my being. A group of “soldier vultures” stood together in the sand nearby, wings spread to the sun, looking to the rainbow. “They know where God is.” I thought. “And so do I.”
       Here and there someone stopped to watch as the arching end of color began to dissolve. Subtly it melted away at the end over the ocean, but held it’s strong presence against the dark grandfather cloud. A sheet of sunlight shot down from under the half arch, veiling grandfather’s brooding face and the rainbow colors intensified. The sun grew brighter as the rain diminished. Warm, steamy, tropical forest greens awakened into lime and bright chartreuse. As the magical morning gave way to the day the rainbow faded but in my heart it remains glowing and strong.
       My heart holds God’s promise in the colored light of love. I feel like Kendrick: a champion at the highest summit, a king immersed in abundance. The light comes pouring out of me and I radiate like the rainbow; like God’s promise in my name. I am the rainbow; I am love. And as I stroll back along the streets toward home. I feel the light in each soul as they wander by. A taxi driver saw the rainbow from the roadside. He told me of a time in Nicaragua when he was in the pasture with the cows. Suddenly a rainbow seemed to spring up from the ground and the sun lit the meadow flowers to a vibrating luminescence. Rainbows create moments which we hold in our hearts for a lifetime. They are God’s promise: a sign of hope and a reminder of the miracle of life, contained in each and every moment.