Prodigal Medic....

 As an adopted son of this country, I see clearly all the things we have to be thankful for. Most people in Colombia don’t get adopted. Even the orphanage that I came from was a blessing, having so many international connections. I see that most children without parents in Third World countries end up as prostitutes, soldiers in someone’s war, or as an addict of some sort or another. No good options in that list. Instead, I ended up being adopted by an amazing couple, part of a loving family and told over and over that the reason I am here is that it was “God’s plan.” I don’t dispute that at all. Because of that, when I hear “The Star Spangled Banner” played, my heart swells and I feel pride to be here, and pride to give and serve my community. I am not naive to the problems this country has, but I know that our problems, in comparison to so many other countries, or even to what I might have been exposed to personally, are “good” problems to have.

 “Taps” and “Amazing Grace” both remind in so many ways, of my freedom spiritually and physically, and that this freedom has come born of the sacrifice of so many, or just One, and that sacrifice should never be forgotten. Maybe it’s the overly emotional Hispanic male in me. Maybe its just that I refuse to not acknowledge the depth, respect and sacrifices made on my behalf, both known and unknown. Soldiers, public safety personnel, and ordinary citizens have given their lives countless times, on foreign soil or next door, to protect us and paid with their lives.

 “Amazing Grace” also reminds me of God’s incredible love for us, His plan for our lives and how we are able to rest secure in that. And rainbows remind me of that. A few months ago, I looked outside my window one late afternoon, thinking something was on fire because of the intense red glow. On the way to the front of the house, I looked towards the setting sun, seeing the source of the intense red. The sunset looked like this:

As I walked out the front door, I saw something that, just like “Amazing Grace,” made me get goosebumps and immediately start to tear up. I saw the most beautiful double rainbow.

This reminded me so much of God’s grace to us. That was a hard day for me, for many reasons, and so much life stress. The rainbow was God over us, again showing us his promise for us.

 

Just recently, I was reading and came across an incredible picture, demonstrating much the same idea, in a totally new way. Again, the picture comes in a rainbow, showing God’s overarching love, concern and movement in human history.

This is an incredible picture! This was done by Ph.D. student Chris Harrison, and Lutheran pastor Christoph Römhild. This is how Harrison explains this picture:

Christoph, a Lutheran Pastor, first emailed me in October of 2007. He described a data set he was putting together that defined textual cross references found in the Bible. He had already done considerable work visualizing the data before contacting me. Together, we struggled to find an elegant solution to render the data, more than 63,000 cross references in total. As work progressed, it became clear that an interactive visualization would be needed to properly explore the data, where users could zoom in and prune down the information to manageable levels. However, this was less interesting to us, as several Bible-exploration programs existed that offered similar functionality (and much more). Instead we set our sights on the other end of the spectrum –- something more beautiful than functional. At the same time, we wanted something that honored and revealed the complexity of the data at every level –- as one leans in, smaller details should become visible. This ultimately led us to the multi-colored arc diagram you see [above].

The bar graph that runs along the bottom represents all of the chapters in the Bible. Books alternate in color between white and light gray. The length of each bar denotes the number of verses in the chapter. Each of the 63,779 cross references found in the Bible is depicted by a single arc - the color corresponds to the distance between the two chapters, creating a rainbow-like effect. 

     (Here is the link to the original web page with this picture.)

 

Wow! This rainbow paints a very clear vision of God’s story and how intricate this whole thing we call “Christian faith” really is! God is there, at the beginning of history, and its from the first chapter of the Bible that begins to connect the story to the very end. Somewhere in the middle of that, under this rainbow of God’s story, we find ourselves, our lives, stories, dramas, joys and struggles, friends and family, all working out our own paths.

 After looking at all of these pictures, I’d invite you to take a long look at these rainbows. We know that rainbows come with light shining through rain or moisture. We all have our individual dark times. But that light is always there to shine bright. Where are you, under the rainbow? Where do you see the evidence of God? Is it as immediately apparent as the “real” rainbow that I saw that one afternoon? Or is it subtler, in old friendships rekindled, new hope, new beginnings, or even in old struggles and finding that God never really left?

 I think that Dorothy got it all wrong, or at least her prepositions. Over the rainbow is not where it’s at. That’s fantasy, a crazy psycho-babble, self-invented Oz, trying to figure out which character we are and in what way we’re deficient and what part of our bodies or souls need finding or replacing, like a heart, a brain or courage.

 Maybe the real treasure – the Truth, and who we are in that Truth – is under the rainbow.

 Praying for rain…

 Let it rain…