Chasing Rainbows

Last week, I was traveling through the Canaan Valley/Dolly Sods region of West Virginia when we saw this beautiful image show up in the eastern sky. It was a vivid rainbow, and as we pulled our car over to capture a photo of this natural beauty, we noticed three cars behind us do the same thing. For folks on facebook, I realize that many of my imported blog entries don't show images, but feel free to visit my blog here.

There's something wonderful about rainbows, and to see one like this that filled the sky, well it was more than a little bit captivating.

As i stopped to consider the rainbow, and our journey along the road, I thought about the old saying "chasing rainbows." The saying is used to describe a situation where a person is pursuing a goal that can never be accomplished--like finding the end of the rainbow and getting a pot of gold. Sometimes I think the same phrase is used to describe someone who is a dreamer or who fails to accept the status quo and the "way the world is."

People probably thought Mother Theresa was chasing rainbows when she started to serve lepers in Calcutta, India at the age of 40. Some people probably thought she flipped her lid. While they were accusing her of chasing rainbows, she was out changing the world.

I bet people said that about Martin Luther King, Jr. when he shared his dream. And now, look at the accomplishments that have been made for civil rights because of that man's dream.

And then I think about my buddies Jake Harriman and John Hancox. They started a non-profit called Nuru International. It has the goal of ending extreme poverty. It seems like a ridiculous and insurmountable goal. But already, a community of 5000 people in southwestern kenya are beginning to lift themselves out of extreme poverty for good. Thousands more are beginning to engage this issue back here in the states. I wonder what will be said of my friends in forty years.

I encourage you today to chase rainbows. Dream big, but as you do, take action steps to make that dream a reality. This world needs more people with vision, more dreamers of dreams, more people who can imagine a different way of living and life. There are some massive problems like extreme poverty, slavery, human trafficking, disease, the environment, genocide, and more. And there are solutions out there. The world is waiting for some people who are daring enough to dream big and who will put their dreams into action.

May you pause to ponder the possibilities that present themselves to us every day, even on the road in rural West Virginia on a rainy sunny day.