Unsusual Rainbow

The Gary Diocese Deacons and their wives attended the Annual Gary Diocese Deacon Retreat the weekend of 10/16/26-10/18/26. The retreat was held at the Lindenwood Retreat and Conference Center in Donaldson, Indiana. About 60 attended.

On that Friday, you might recall that it was overcast, with no sunshine, although there was a slight chance of rain in the weather forecast.

As I left Dyer and reached the town of Wanatah, (traveling east on US 30), it started to drizzle, ever so slightly. Then, appearing on the north side of the road, was a most vivid rainbow showing crystal clear colors of red, orange, yellow and blue. What was remarkable was the fact only the bottom right portion of the rainbow appeared. Also interesting was the width of the rainbow, being very wide in diameter. It was so unusual, in not seeing the entire rainbow structure, that cars were pulling over to the side of the road and taking pictures with their cellphones. By the time I reached what could be described as the base of the rainbow, the entire dimension of the rainbow structure could be seen although fading quickly. Then there was a torrential downpour of rain for about 5 miles and then the sun appeared as if nothing previously happened.

Turning south off US 30 to the retreat center, I saw leaves in the trees turning bright fall colors and farmland that was recently plowed. It all looked so beautiful.

There are so many contrasting views of God’ beauty in nature!

I thought about how God is there in all of this in our lives, whether before, during, or after the storms that sometimes define our lives. Like the cars that went on the side of the busy road to take pictures, do we remember to step back from the chaos of life to see we truly are not alone?  

By: Deacon Tom Gryzbek