Days 194-196 - Rainbow Man

I am thinking of faith now/ and the testaments of loneliness/ and what we feel we are/ worthy of in this world.  - David Whyte, from "The Truelove"

   I never met him, but you and I think we know "the type." He was one of those sidewalk preachers who wander the streets shouting sermons to disinterested cars and the deaf sky. He must have experienced agonizing loneliness and fear until he discovered something one day. 

   My friend, Tom Bagwell, told me about him. Some people called him "Rainbow Man" because he preached a particular gospel. This man, whose name I don't know, told everyone that rainbows protect us from evil. Perhaps, like Joseph in the Bible, he believed that a coat of many colors was a special thing. In his case, he believed that rainbows would protect him from some of the nightmares he must have experienced. And if they would help him, maybe rainbows would help everyone.

   While rainbows are a rare occurence; imagining them is not. When my younger sister is in pain from occasional bouts of vertigo or chronic back pain, she likes to imagine her favorite spot, a town called La Jolla on the coast of California south of where she and I grew up.

   In the movie The Sixth Sense, the boy lead, played by Haley Joel Osmet, surrounded himself with Christian icons to protect himself from the visions of dead people that plagued him. It was the only thing that brought him comfort.

   We all seek "rainbows" to transport us from the pain or boredom that sometimes invades our lives. This is, perhaps, the gift of stories - whether told through books, movies or songs. Imagination can tranport us. 

   The world before the eyes of caregivers often holds the saddest of stories. Nurses encounter the pain of their patients. Hospice workers work every day with people living their last days. Social workers at the Sexual Abuse Center in Nashville seek to bring comfort to women who have been raped. The staff of Brightstone, Inc offers respect and love to adults with developmental disabilities.

   After days and nights of dealing with such hard reality, it's no wonder we seek the comfort of stories. Perhaps, rainbows do in fact, protect us. Like hope, rainbows rise out of dark skies to spill beauty into our lives.

   What do we feel, in the words of Whyte's poem, "we are worthy of in this world?" We are all worthy of peace. Pain brings loneliness and isolation. We are all wrothy of Love.

   Compassionate caregivers are prisms through which the rainbow of Love travels They create beauty that dissolves fear in the hearts of those who, right now, may see only darkness.

-Erie Chapman

Comments

[Tom Knowles-Bagwell]

"Compassionate caregivers are prisms through which the rainbow of Love travels. They create beauty that dissolves fear in the hearts of those who, right now, may see only darkness."

When you put it this way, Erie, I can see how Spencer (the "Rainbow Man") was right. The Spirit of Love can flow through us to drive away the darkness and all that it means.

[~liz Wessel]

I agree, what a beautiful thought and divine image.
Distraction is a good coping mechanism. I do not think we could bear the intensity of pain all the time, without some moments of relief. So it comes in waves, it often spills forth in unpredictable ways as it has a life of its own. We need to honor our “dark night of the soul” give it a safe harbor for expression and let fall what may within the gentleness of feathers.
For some reason, the image of a bird and these lines from Emily Dickinson’s poem have been seeking my attention the past few days, perhaps because she wanted to share this song of hope.

“Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all”

[Diana Gallaher]

:-)

[~liz Wessel]

I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing
than to teach ten thousand stars how not to dance
~ e e cummings

[Karen York]

What a beautiful meditation Erie with perfect timing for me. The rainbow man gives me a sense of peace in the midst of a turbulent world. The night sky is also a protector for me. I always feel centered and safe when I lose myself there.
Thank you.

[~liz Wessel]

To look upon another, beyond form, and really see… the prisms of light in his/her eyes, especially when one has forgotten and can see only darkness; this is a precious gift. This is our one purpose, to offer escape from darkness into the light of each other; and to be affirmed of our worthiness, indivisible in Love. We are of the same clay.

“What is the same can not be different,
And what is one can not have separate parts.” CIM

[Dina Montalvo]

As I read your story I think of the rainbow story in the Bible that the rainbow is a reminder that GOD would never flood the world again. The rainbow represents a promise. Maybe Rainbow Man was holding still to the promises of God.

[ann kaiser]

"I have set my bow in the clouds , and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh."

[Victoria Facey]

Beautiful meditation and shared responses.