somewhere over the rainbow

Last Wednesday I was on the plane with Irene back to Hong Kong from Manila when we saw a rainbow...Wow!!!...I had to take a photo of it. As the plane moved...and the clouds moved...and the earth moved...I could never take a picture of it twice. It was always different.

It's amazing how you can pass the same way twice but never pass it in the same way. You can read the same book twice but you can have a different interpretation or reflection each time.

I started reading the Bible again from the beginning for the very first time since I can't remember when. I've studied a lot of the things about it from kinder to college. I've read numerous books in the middle but I only started reading the beginning of the Bible yesterday after so many years. You know how it is when you think you know it already that you won't even bother to read it again? That was my sentiment on Genesis. I have been reading Genesis over and over again on my kids' children's Bible. I would sing that song with that intro about creation in my car when I used to party a lot. That was Genesis to me.

I was in San Francisco yesterday when I decided to try reading Genesis. It never dawned to me how wonderful it is to picture in my mind how God created the earth and everything on it. I felt the love that God has for man giving him the authority to rule over all creatures that move along the ground.

I felt bad when God found out about Adam and Eve's disobedience. They disobeyed His command for them not to eat from the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden.
I felt sad when God laid down the consequences of Eve's act on women. I really think childbirth is one of the most painful experience a woman could ever have.

I felt doubly sad when God ordered Noah to build an ark because He was going to send a great flood that would wipe out all mankind except Noah's family and a pair of every creature on earth. It was during those times that man was extremely wicked that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was ONLY evil all the time. It read..."The Lord was grieved that He had made man on the earth, and His heart was filled with pain." (Genesis 6:6)

I thought that was really sad...I felt like I disappointed God even if I was not the one who caused that pain. Pain for me is intense hurt...and pain in the heart is a grave kind of pain. And on this verse it said that "The Lord was grieved that He had made man on the earth" that for me reads...God for a moment there somehow had regrets that He created man. Oh dear.

But once you get to know the true nature of God and how loving He is, you will then come to realize that He is always ready to forgive you with open arms and make amends. That is why when He saw the goodness in Noah He was ready for a new start with him and his family. He didn't think of risking his relationship again with man and taking the chance of getting hurt again. He didn't think of what man could possibly do again with the authority and freedom that is being given to them. Instead He saw a new beginning.

When I read these verses when God was talking to Noah...I saw the real beauty of the rainbow. I will definitely never look at the rainbow in the same way ever again...

"I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."

So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth." (Genesis 9:13-17)