Unspeakably Eloquent Laws of Light that Produce Rainbows
Anyone who knows me knows that I love rainbows. I sang about them in my childhood and I have used the theme of rainbows in the story of my spiritual pilgrimage. Recently, I picked up more helpful information about rainbows in a book by Michael Guillen called, Can a Smart Person Believe in God?
In a side note, Michael Guillen has agreed to be the speaker at Phoenix Seminary's Vision of Faith Banquet in 2010. As a former ABC news science correspondent, a theoretical physicist and best-selling author, I believe he will bring a much-needed perspective to the Valley of the Sun.
Michael says that anyone can look at a rainbow and ooh and aah at its beautiful colors. But, he says, I can look at a rainbow and appreciate it at a much deeper level, all because my scientific education has clued me in on the unspeakably eloquent laws of light that explain how a rainbow's colors are produced.
Michael provides these additional facts about rainbows:
1) Rainbows appear at the end of rainstorms because it is then you have two prerequisites for making them: 1) water droplets suspended in the sky and 2) sunlight.
2) A rainbow is created when sunlight enters millions upon millions of water droplets, bounces off their back surfaces, and upon exiting fans out in different colors and different directions-like kids at recess fanning out onto the playground. (Technically speaking, that sequence of events is called refraction, reflection, and dispersion.)
3) A rainbow's visible colors are always arrayed in the same order: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Beyond the red and violet are invisible colors called infrared and ultraviolet, respectively.
4) The best way to see a rainbow is to turn your back to the sun and raise your eyes to an angle of forty-two degrees with respect to the sun's angle above the horizon.
5) Rainbows are actually circular. They appear to be arches (i.e., half-circles) only because their bottom halves are cut off by the ground you stand upon. If you wish to see them in their full circular glory, as I have on many occasions, you need to view them from high above the ground, such as onboard an airplane.
I am now much more fully informed about rainbows. When I board a plane, I plan on sitting in the window seat. You never know, I might have the occasion to see the full circular glory of a rainbow! At least I know to be watching!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
I've been thinking about aesthetics...
Over the Moon in Aptos, California
I was surprised by joy this morning! Once again an unexpected aesthetic experience was downloaded into my memory database.
Before sunrise I awoke to my bedroom flooded with intense moonlight. Curiosity drew me out onto the terrace where I saw a stunning sight. A huge lustrous full moon, hung low on the horizon, was throwing down moonbeans on Monterey Bay so powerfully that the entire inlet in front of our condo was a sparkling shimmering mass of tremulous movement.
Mesmerized by the loveliness of it all, appreciation welled up in my soul for the gift and then, quite naturally, for the Giver of the gift. The moon, a natural satellite of the earth, is only visible because of reflected light from the sun. In Psalm 136, we read that God, in demonstrating His everlasting lovingkindness, created the sun to rule the day and the moon and stars to rule the night. He created this breathtaking display of splendor for me to delight in.
I added this new experience to others already etched on my soul. There was the time I walked home alone in softly falling snow after an afternoon movie. And, the time I watched a fairyland of fireflies from the upstairs window of my parent's Iowa home. And, the time I was entranced by orange and red leaves falling like rain in Arlington Cemetery. All of these memories have delighted my aesthetic senses and aroused a tremendous sense of wonderment and deep appreciation.
Who is this that grows like the dawn,
As beautiful as the full moon,
As pure as the sun,
As awesome as an army with banners?
Song of Solomon 6:10 (NASB)
Oh Lord, keep my eyes open and my soul ready to receive all that you have for me to appreciate in this beautiful world of Yours!
I was surprised by joy this morning! Once again an unexpected aesthetic experience was downloaded into my memory database.
Before sunrise I awoke to my bedroom flooded with intense moonlight. Curiosity drew me out onto the terrace where I saw a stunning sight. A huge lustrous full moon, hung low on the horizon, was throwing down moonbeans on Monterey Bay so powerfully that the entire inlet in front of our condo was a sparkling shimmering mass of tremulous movement.
Mesmerized by the loveliness of it all, appreciation welled up in my soul for the gift and then, quite naturally, for the Giver of the gift. The moon, a natural satellite of the earth, is only visible because of reflected light from the sun. In Psalm 136, we read that God, in demonstrating His everlasting lovingkindness, created the sun to rule the day and the moon and stars to rule the night. He created this breathtaking display of splendor for me to delight in.
I added this new experience to others already etched on my soul. There was the time I walked home alone in softly falling snow after an afternoon movie. And, the time I watched a fairyland of fireflies from the upstairs window of my parent's Iowa home. And, the time I was entranced by orange and red leaves falling like rain in Arlington Cemetery. All of these memories have delighted my aesthetic senses and aroused a tremendous sense of wonderment and deep appreciation.
Who is this that grows like the dawn,
As beautiful as the full moon,
As pure as the sun,
As awesome as an army with banners?
Song of Solomon 6:10 (NASB)
Oh Lord, keep my eyes open and my soul ready to receive all that you have for me to appreciate in this beautiful world of Yours!
Monday, June 22, 2009
I've been thinking about romance...
The Lover's Hermitage
Darryl and I just celebrated our 39th anniversary. You have heard this one before - but I cannot believe I have been married for 39 years! What happened to that little 18 year old girl standing in an apartment in Van Nuys, California, green off the Iowa farm?
Well, she invested an inordinate amount of time and energy in creating a home - a kind of hermitage - for her husband over those years. In fact, although a well-kept physical home is extremely comforting and relaxing, an emotional home is vitally more important. A hermitage, as Webster defines it, is a secluded residence, a private retreat or hideaway. Creating an emotional hermitage for a husband is a terrific metaphor for the most romantic kind of homemaking.
A few years ago I ran across a beautiful poem by Mike Mason describing his relationship with his new wife. You see, Mike did not plan on ever marrying, but God directed him along a different path and he fell in love. When Mike married, he raised the bar of romantic married love by putting pen to paper. Here is what he wrote:
Love, you are my hermitage, my dwelling forever.
Just as a happy bachelor may aspire to be a hermit,
So as your husband do I dream of being more married.
Your body in a path leading through a golden wood;
Your love is a clearing in the center of the forest.
Here I have built my home, here in you alone.
With you I know a solitude deeper than my own.
One table, one rocking chair by the hearth of you -
And in your face a window brighter than the sky!
Are not your arms a shelter made of all my longings?
How gladly shall I spend my life in the cool still hush of you!
Your words are quieter than my thoughts.
Your moods are the shade beneath dancing poplars.
When you smile I'm warmed like earth in the sun.
Your laugh is the brook at my doorstep.
Gentler are you than breath, much stranger than death.
Just to touch your hair is more peaceful than sleep.
Where else could I die but in your brown eyes?
Surely all my wandering finds its end in you.
Love, you are my hermitage, my dwelling forever.
The challenge of this poem is focusing on what kind of a person do I need to be to warrant this type of breathtaking tribute? I want to be my best romantic self.
Darryl and I just celebrated our 39th anniversary. You have heard this one before - but I cannot believe I have been married for 39 years! What happened to that little 18 year old girl standing in an apartment in Van Nuys, California, green off the Iowa farm?
Well, she invested an inordinate amount of time and energy in creating a home - a kind of hermitage - for her husband over those years. In fact, although a well-kept physical home is extremely comforting and relaxing, an emotional home is vitally more important. A hermitage, as Webster defines it, is a secluded residence, a private retreat or hideaway. Creating an emotional hermitage for a husband is a terrific metaphor for the most romantic kind of homemaking.
A few years ago I ran across a beautiful poem by Mike Mason describing his relationship with his new wife. You see, Mike did not plan on ever marrying, but God directed him along a different path and he fell in love. When Mike married, he raised the bar of romantic married love by putting pen to paper. Here is what he wrote:
Love, you are my hermitage, my dwelling forever.
Just as a happy bachelor may aspire to be a hermit,
So as your husband do I dream of being more married.
Your body in a path leading through a golden wood;
Your love is a clearing in the center of the forest.
Here I have built my home, here in you alone.
With you I know a solitude deeper than my own.
One table, one rocking chair by the hearth of you -
And in your face a window brighter than the sky!
Are not your arms a shelter made of all my longings?
How gladly shall I spend my life in the cool still hush of you!
Your words are quieter than my thoughts.
Your moods are the shade beneath dancing poplars.
When you smile I'm warmed like earth in the sun.
Your laugh is the brook at my doorstep.
Gentler are you than breath, much stranger than death.
Just to touch your hair is more peaceful than sleep.
Where else could I die but in your brown eyes?
Surely all my wandering finds its end in you.
Love, you are my hermitage, my dwelling forever.
The challenge of this poem is focusing on what kind of a person do I need to be to warrant this type of breathtaking tribute? I want to be my best romantic self.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)