UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

NEW SPECIMENS OLD SPECIMENS THE SCIENTIST MY LOG CONTACT ME
2001-09-09 - 8:56 p.m.

This is the second London entry of three. It is really from 9/8/01.

UNEXPECTED BLESSINGS

Nobody told me about the rainbow. I've seen arcing rainbows before, of course, and half-an-arc rainbows but this rainbow was horizontal. There it was--red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple--just above the land on the horizon as the sun came up on the left side of the plane.

I'm not sure what time it was. Time is relative on an international plane trip. I'm not sure if it was 12:30 a.m. Milwaukee time, 1:30 a.m. Pittsburgh time, or 5:30 a.m. London time. If not for the rainbow, I could have sworn it was the middle of the night.

Yet there it was, an unexpected blessing. I try to look for unexpected blessings but often forget to do so. Some, like my horizontal rainbow welcoming me to the U.K. are hard to miss. "Look," they yell. "There's beauty in the world and if you miss it, it's your fault." One of my jobs involves teaching prayerbook Hebrew to eight and nine year olds and their parents. We cover the concept of the traditional Jewish blessing. A traditional Jewish blessing doesn't bless people or things, no matter how extraordinary. No, a traditional Jewish blessing blesses God for creating--for creatng the ordinary, such as bread, the extraordinary, such as my rainbow, and the not-so-wonderful on the surface, such as death. Each year, I ask my class why there are so many blessings. The answer I like best is that remembering blessings reminds us to look closely, to categorize and make some sense of what's around us, and not to take anything for granted. I can't remember the exact words for blessing God upon seeing a rainbow. I doubt that the words matter all that much. Seeing that horizontal rainbow is enough. I see. I notice. I feel connected beyond myself. My horizontal rainbow is quick opportunity for beauty and connection. It's a good omen--and an unexpected blessing.

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