DOUBLE RAINBOW

My post today flows from and connects to yesterday's written to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). 

It also connects to massive flooding this week in the Northeastern United States caused by remnants of Hurricane Ida.  Especially to awful images of a flooded New York subway system and stranded passengers.  

It connects to my old fear of streetcars and subways when I first moved to Toronto in the 1980's. 

It connects to the loss of my long-standing hotmail account after 20+ years. 

Maybe you too can relate to one of these connections.  I hope so.  And I hope not.

Let me continue by saying there was a beautiful sunrise this morning!  It caught the crystal heart hanging by my open balcony door.  I was deeply awed to see how it made two beautiful rainbows on my Mexico rug.  A double rainbow!! 

"A double rainbow is considered a symbol of transformation... and in Genesis 9, a rainbow is part of Noah’s story in which God promises never to create another destructive global flood."  (www.coloma.com)

Rainbows are known to appear after disasters and floods (Noah and the ark).  Maybe they too appear after a storm breaks in a difficult relationship?  Or after email accounts are lost?

Let me say a bit more:  When I was locked out of my hotmail account this week I had to start contacting people to give them my new email address.  I had to contact my parents.  Generally stressful, but God had something else in mind.

After sending my "change of email address" email, my mother called.  My mother said she was worried my email change of address might be scammers and hackers.  But this time her worry was a good thing.   Not always so in the past. It had been a long time since we'd spoken.

We had a wonderful chat. If this turned out to be our last call I would be so grateful for it.  Our long difficult past was wiped out like my hotmail account.  Is this symbolic of transformation and something new happening?  Just like the rainbow?

When the initial shock of getting locked out of my hotmail account passed-- an account I've had for 20 years, I asked myself a question.  What is God up to here?

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.  (Isaiah 55: 8-9): 
 
A flooded subway, a lost email account, a telephone call, and a double rainbow.

Seems God was up to bringing my mother and I together (although it wouldn't last).

Double rainbows are relationship is not.

Cb

Amen

 



Image Credit:  graidup.com

This post is dedicated to my mother

and 

Lois Howes for her dedication in prayer


Popular posts from this blog

STOPPED IN MY TRACKS

Image
SANTA SUBITO. Deep breath. Yesterday I learned in the best and gentlest way possible that my friend Gabbie passed away on January 12, 2025. It was Gabbie who encouraged me to start blogging during Covid-19 lockdowns in Toronto. I want to say more about my friend Gabbie and our connection through the Sisters of Life, but not right now. My heart is too full of love and joy and grief, and honestly just awe. I'm stopped in my tracks for now... I heard a song today during  Canada Day  celebrations that made me think of Gabbie. It's  I Believe in You , by Amanda Marshall:  Bing Videos . Gabbie believed in me and she loved Jesus so much-- both of which I benefitted from so much. Thanks Gabs💕 I don't know whether Gabbie will be put forward as a potential Catholic saint, I hope so. Gabbie and I actually never met in person but we shared the same taste in boots and hats. Our friendship began through an extraordinary snail mail adventure in the middle of covid lockdowns, it de...
Read more

MAKINGS OF A GOOD PRODIGAL DAUGHTER STORY

As I continue to sit with the question of whether or not to wrap up my blog at the end of the summer, I sit also with the story of the Prodigal Son . And like in the Prodigal Son , my blog  Stranded on the Mainland has it's roots in the loss of and longing for, home. Below are some mid-August thoughts on this: WHAT IF the daughter didn't want to leave home like the prodigal son did, what if she was sent to the city? What if she doesn't squander her "inheritance" at all, but is (unbeknownst to most, including herself) is amassing a treasure, a fortune, and spiritual inheritance, "one that protects her from nothing and sustains her in everything."--Jim Finley. WHAT IF it's the daughter who through therapy and grace brings back a new robe for her traumatized self to put on, a ring for her finger, and sandals for her feet? WHAT IF it's the daughter who's preparing the roast beef dinner? And the daughter rushing down the road to meet her true sel...
Read more

OPPOSING VALUES AND ADVENT HOPE

Image
Today I'm realizing something I never considered before: "How I as a straight, white, Christian woman-- being treated with fairness can feel like oppression." Wow. And flipping this over-- how oppression and mistreatment can feel like fairness and love. Wow. With that said, the prophetic talk below is not one I would typically think of as an Advent talk, but it is-- especially in 2025 in this world full of people who oppose each other's values. American democracy is bleeding out; now Canadian environmental guardrails are sadly beginning to fail. For those of us with e yes to see and ears to hear , this is a time of clashing and crashing values-- if our values were being traded on the stock market it would be 1920. We don't know where all this worldly chaos is heading, it's true. But we have the Prophet's Candle (old and new). And we have Hope. And we have this prophetic Advent challenge in a podcast episode from The Center for Action and Contemplation, Le...
Read more