Keep looking up

And God said, "...I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. ¹⁴ Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, ¹⁵ I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. ¹⁶ Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” (Genesis 9:12-16)

Fringe, the best show currently on TV, had an episode this week that was reminiscent of this promise. A little background before a video clip:

Hang with me on this. There are two parallel universes, and they discovered at one point that only one could survive. As the result of stuff we don't have time to go into, one of them was dying. Now, after fixing that stuff, the universe that was dying started to heal. But now an evil dude has attacked the stays quo and both universes are in danger. As they try to fix it, there is a powerful scene between Olivia Dunham and her doppelganger from the other universe. It starts at about the :43 mark:



Earlier in the episode, a reference was made to Noah's ark. It's apparent to me after another site pointed it out (I can be dense sometimes) that this was likely not a coincidence. Noah built the ark because God was fed up with man's sin and sent a flood to destroy the world as they knew it. When it was all over, the Lord set the rainbow in the sky as a reminder that he would never do that again. It was a beacon to comfort people and remind them of the Lord's mercy in allowing humankind to continue.

So in the world where destruction was inevitable, the physics were altered where rainbows were no longer possible. No reminder of God's mercy, no reassurance that he was in control. But that Olivia longed to look up and see a rainbow again. She was hopeful that the healing would bring it about.

Signs are important to us; I think it's just the way people are made. Fringe reminded of that me through this little moment. I won't take the next rainbow I see for granted. I'll look up, and I'll remember that God loves me and wants the best for me. And that he has spared me from the wrath I deserve.

And I'll say thank you.