Rainbow

And God said, “ This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations. I set my rainbow in the cloud…the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.” – Genesis 9:12-17

God says this several times in this passage. It is a covenant between Him and all living things on the earth. For every person and every animal. It is all inclusive. It covers all.

The rainbow has always been a symbol of joy and happiness. The everlasting promise that after the rain the sun will come out. It’s metaphorical for our hard times, that the darkness and storms will yield to a brighter day. It’s a message of hope and love.

In the 70’s we saw it on pieces of clothing, and bags, and notebooks, and pretty much anywhere you could put a symbol. It was used to represent the different people of the earth, to show that even though we were different colours, we were all beautiful and could live in harmony, like the rainbow.

And then the meaning of the rainbow got changed. Sure, it wasn’t a true rainbow; it has six colours instead of the seven. It also took on a new name. Pride. Pride is something we’re warned about in the bible. Pride is the opposite of humility. Pride is about raising ourselves up above others. It is not about unity. Nor was the new rainbow. It wasn’t about inclusiveness, which the true rainbow represents. Sure it claimed to be inclusive, but rather it’s about an exclusive group of people. Most people don’t fit under the rainbow pride banner.

And now the pride rainbow can be found everywhere. Where the true rainbow includes all on the earth, the pride rainbow represents just a few. It’s in schools, teaching children that they don’t belong, it’s on city streets and in businesses, and given its own parades. It’s even found in churches replacing God’s rainbow.

We need to remember the true rainbow. The rainbow that values all people and represents unity and inclusion and most of all God’s promise.

We need to remember God’s rainbow.