by

Leo Crocker Rogers

I saw something this evening before Easter Sunday that I have not seen for 15 years. It was a full rainbow – from one end to the other in refracted glory of colors and bow. Glorious it was.

I opened my cell phone to take a photo and afterward when looking at the photo, I could not tell if the photo was as I had hoped, so I made some quick adjustments to the camera and turned to the sky again to take my second photo, and, and the bow was gone. The beautiful that I had not seen for 15 years did not wait 60 seconds before it went on its way.

I was outside a dance hall when that occurred. When inside and meeting my friends, I warmly shook hands, hugged, and greeted warmly some strangers because inside me I felt that the bow was a message – love now for in moments those or myself may be gone.

It was in 1980 that I retired from 100,000 mile flight years and working from sun to sunset – every hour of which I throughly enjoyed. After retiring, how glorious it was that I would go deep into the Superstition Mountains to find a lonely place where I could lie down. I would lie and with rocks in my back, I watched the contrails of the 707s streaking through the sky. I would say to myself how grateful I was not to be sipping on a Coke and eating peanuts some 30,000 feet above terra firma.

It was in 1986 or so when on a trip to the east coast from Arizona, that one night in Texas, while staying at a KOA, I was in the midst of silent darkness lying on a picnic table looking upward. The sky had stars so bright that I could not help but think, there is a whole lot more going on in the universe than meets my eye. I was humbled by the magnitude of the sky and its population.

So tonight after seeing the rainbow, I found a wet place shielded from the city lights to lie on my back and once again think: love those you love Leo and others too, hug, be kind, be ready to help, and that brought me to Will.

Will was at the dance hall tonight. He is a six foot three fellow of lanky build, scrambled hair, wearing loose and unkempt clothes, and with flailing arms and legs – a man who loves to talk and wants to be heard – somewhat of a transient in our town – and wanting to dance. But his ways made the ladies uncomfortable. I spoke with Will for about a half and hour and Will feels outside society in his ways and does not know why. He wishes to dance but once a lady dances with him he says they won’t dance with him again. There is no harm in Will.

The woman, the lady, who danced with Will at least twice, saw Will like the rainbow sees mankind – with universal love and care. She reminded me of whose earth this really is. The earth is the Lords, and it is His rainbow and His stars that are there to remind us that we are but a small part of His glorious whole and that His rainbow and stars bless everyone, all of us, those that fit in and those that don’t fit in. This lady was like that tonight, blessing all mankind including Will.

It is Easter and that means something different to each of us, but Easter’s message blesses all, just as the rainbow and stars and just as the lady that danced twice with Will

We are here to give, not to get.