God's lesson to man


      by Joel Swanson

        The rainbow learned a lesson, once long ago
        when each color separated, as love's vine, poisoned with pride, could no longer grow.
        Each full of contempt, "Why should I like, love, and work with you who are different,
        when my efforts reap so much more than you can sow."
        Jealousy, hatred, fear, and pride ruled the land,
        so God unleashed his wrath to wash away this unfaithful world, underfoot and in the sand.

        For 40 days and 40 nights, rains of hatred ravaged from each dawn to sunset, and to dawn --
        because the divided rainbow could not dispel it, each color helpless and weak in its brawn.
        Defeated, they bound together; red, blue, yellow, and purple, in God's grace.
        In harmony they subdued the storm and formed the covenant of rebirth for two by two of each race.

        "Segregated and prejudiced, we were blind through death -- vision without sight.
        But as bricks of love's body, we construct the path to God's kingdom, a tower of white light.
        The additive, unified beacon of white light is God's formula to raise humanity from its fall.
        ". . . I give you Faith, Hope, and Love,
        and the greatest of these is love,"
        which sees no color and is the blueprint of God's kingdom for us all.

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      Last update: 15 July 1998

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