After the rain - the rainbow

After my trip up country and the slightly earlier return through central England, a place that resembled either a swamp or a lake, I returned to Exeter and then to Cranbrook to enquire as to any flood issues. It has been said that this new town was built on a flood plain. Well if it has the flood defences have worked very well, for although some local towns very sadly had some serious issues, I am delighted to say that at Cranbrook I saw none, yes there were puddles and pools of water but none of these seemed to impinge adversely on the buildings in any discernible way - this is good!

But it keeps raining and yesterday as I was on my way to the school I saw this, so I stopped and took a picture with my phone (they say that the best camera is the one you have in your hand).

Rainbows have played quite a part in my story, I remember the one over Avonmouth bridge as we travelled to Exeter for the first time more than ten years ago. I also remember the one in Loughborough when I was ordained. Of course, in the Bible they are seen as a sign of God's covenant with the earth and its people. As I was taking my picture I engaged with a lady who had also stopped her car and got out to take a picture with a 'proper' camera. I am not sure whether she shared my faith perspective but she, like me saw this bow in the sky as a thing of beauty, something to stop for and enjoy the sense of awe and mystery that it evokes.

As we prepare to move to Cranbrook there is a real sense of the presence of God before us and behind us, the rainbow was lovely in this respect reminding me again of this ancient story of God's eternal promise and presence. I don't want to be arrogant but us moving to Cranbrook 'feels right', there is a clarity that is as clear as the rainbow in the sky - I really do feel this way!

But here is the interesting bit; there is more than one bow in this picture, the second is less obvious and less clear, a 'shadow' of the first. Although we see (without arrogance) God's hand in our move to Cranbrook there is something else, something more behind, something yet to be encountered or discovered, a second promise.