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Website last updated on 5th Nov 2009. |
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Our Minister
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Telephone Number: 01252 544823
Email: linda.phillips@theinvernet.co.uk
Linda writes (taken from our October 2009 newsletter) ...
Dear Friends,
As many of you will know, we have recently been on holiday in the Scottish Islands, which, to put it mildly, was a little damp at times. I was looking through our photographs the other day, and was reminded of one of our visits, which was to the island of Iona, by two photographs of a lovely rainbow. I had, mind you, suffered for my art, having walked some distance through a torrential downpour before having the opportunity to see the beauty of the rainbow, and managing to get a good picture of it. Another major part of visiting Iona, apart from seeing the Abbey, was to visit their bookshop, where they sell extremely useful books of worship resources (poems, prayers and meditations), published by the Wild Goose Worship Group, part of the Iona Community. I cannot resist the temptation of buying their latest books, and one was “Out of Iona”, a book of reflections on Bible readings and poems about aspects of island life. Surprise, surprise, one of them was about rainbows!
I’d like to quote part of it here:-
Rainbows do not come cheap
They are born out of the storm.
Crossing grey skies,
They cannot cross them out -
A fragile 'maybe' in the face of doubt
then at the end these words :-
Rainbows make their own rules:
They make no promises,
But connect imagination and common sense
Follow the logic of God's fools
Rainbows do not come cheap:
They come to those who weep
Another phrase in the poem which struck me particularly was the question, “why should a trick of the light make such a difference?”
Just what is it that makes rainbows such a powerful symbol? Is it just because we know they are just a trick of the light, but are yet so beautiful, and perhaps also fragile, sometimes lasting only a minute or two.
Whatever the reason, they do seem to speak of hope, the possibility of sunshine after the storm, that light and life and beauty are not destroyed by the angry black clouds, the storms of life, however threatening (and drenching!) they may prove to be. We usually see a rainbow only against a backdrop of dark cloud, a courageous gesture in the face of the darkness, and so perhaps it is only against the darkness of the tough times in our lives that we can appreciate the occasional unexpected flashes of hope and joy. Perhaps it is only when things are difficult that we can appreciate God’s presence. When life is good, we miss him in the sunshine of our human pleasures, but when it’s dark, his presence can shine out, bringing hope and strength to us - if we look for him, and raise our eyes to look for the rainbow.
If any of the rest of you also had rather wet holidays, this year, I hope you too spotted a rainbow amongst the clouds, but if you have just been at home, I hope there have been some moments of glory there also. Rainbows do not come cheap, but they can be really worth it in the end, bringing new hope and courage into our lives.
With Christian greetings,
Linda