The Rainbow

In the Bible, the rainbow was a symbol of God's covenant with Noah and the people of the earth. Personally, the rainbow has become a symbol of God's presence and guidance in my own life. I attended a retreat back in 1990 and the facilitator told us to select a symbol that would remind us that God was present and active in our lives.  I chose a rainbow as my sign. From then on, rainbows began to show up in many forms.

In nature, rainbows appear in the sky after a storm. As humans, we all have storms in our lives of one kind or another. They are the challenges in our lives--whether they be in the form of illness, relationship problems, financial challenges, or the loss of a job or loved one.

Back in 1994, I felt that I was in the midst of a storm. My mother was in an assisted care center named Eagle Estates. She had been diagnosed with emphysema several years before and the disease had progressed to the point where she was on oxygen 24 hours a day and was finding it difficult to take care of herself. She had been told by her doctor the year before that she most likely had about two years to live.

One day, after a visit to see my mother, the doctor took me aside and said that he felt my mother should be in a nursing home, that she needed more help than she would get at the assisted care center. This news saddened me greatly as my mother loved Eagle Estates. The staff there had become part of her family and she loved them. It was "home" to her. She would sit in her chair across from the door and wave and smile as people passed. "Thank you, dear," she'd say to the aides who brought her the iced tea that she loved so much.

My husband and I began looking at nursing homes. We examined the state inspection reports as we had been encouraged to do and were horrified at what we found in many of the homes. Antiseptic smells greeted us as we walked through the door, masking odors that were even worse. The expressions of the people we saw reflected a hopelessness and loneliness that I had not seen at Eagle Estates.

After two days of visiting these homes, I found myself feeling discouraged, confused and depressed. What should I do? I wanted to do what was best for my mother and the doctor thought that a nursing home was the right place for her. On the other hand, I knew that my mother would want to stay at Eagle Estates.

As my husband drove us back to where we were staying, I closed my eyes and said a prayer. "God show me what to do. Help me to know what is best for Mother." I sat with my eyes closed for a couple of minutes and a feeling of peace washed over me. When I opened my eyes, there was a rainbow ahead of us in the sky. There had been no rain and there were no clouds in the sky, and yet there it was. I knew in my heart at that moment that Mother should stay at Eagle Estates.

Although I was not there with Mother when she passed on in 1995, one of her favorite young aides was there with her, holding her and singing. She went peacefully on to her next "home".

This article is the inaugural story for the new group on Gather called Soul Food: Stories of Hope and Inspiration http://soulfood.gather.com/. The purpose of this group is to provide hope and encouragement to those who are experiencing life challenges and to uplift those of us who are looking for inspiration and good news rather than the news that the media usually provides. I invite you to join our group, and, if you feel so moved, share a story. Your story may be the one that someone needs to hear to find hope and inspiration.