The Rainbow Gift after the Downpour

Not my words but a phrase that entranced me nonetheless, contained in a message of hope from a friend during a moment of fragility.

After living in the Catlins for a few years I know about rainbows. Sudden storms would sweep down the valley where we lived; often the sun would soon shine through and the large grey canvas of the sky would be illuminated by a magnificent rainbow.

Today in Dunedin its a grey, colourless, drizzly day but my mind is on a different plane, contemplating the colours of the rainbow and marvelling at how something so ephemeral is also so meaningful, bringing joy and hope and promise to us all.

A sudden thought intrudes … isn’t it amazing how we humans can laugh and cry at the same time? We can laugh until we cry; we cry and something funny can make us laugh. Beautiful and ephemeral – like a rainbow.