Time for me to go now, I won’t say goodbye;
Look for me in rainbows, way up in the sky
In the morning sunrise when all the world is new.
Just look for me and love me, as you know I loved you.
(From “Look for Me in Rainbows” by Conn Bernard and Vicki Brown)
They say that no two people, even if they are standing side-by-side with someone, see the same rainbow in the exact same way. There are meteorological explanations about the constant motion of the raindrops, and the center of the arc stretching from the sun to the observer’s eye, therefore individualizing the experience for each viewer. However, when I am witnessing a natural phenomenon, I don’t want to understand the “why,” I just want to savor the experience and absorb its impact on me in that fleeting moment.
I think that the same thing can be said about people. Anyone who knows you, understands and appreciates you from their own unique perspective. Collectively these visions fully reflect the shades of wonder and beauty that each of you as a child of God adds to the complete masterpiece that is this world for whatever number of days that you walk the earth.
In my son Alex’s case, that number was 8999. However, as he saw it, those were 8999 opportunities to make a difference in the world. And that he did!
He marveled at the promise of a rising sun over the distant horizon and its spectacular encore at dusk. Alex would race outside to witness the drama of a rainbow emerging from the clash of light beams and storm clouds. Perhaps his eye for finding the extraordinary in the ordinary and capturing it before it disappeared, was why he was destined to archive God’s magnificent artistry through a camera lens.
Through Alex’s perspective, I have learned to see the broken, the hopeless, the anxious, and the outcasts, especially those among our younger generations, as my neighbors, in need of acceptance, understanding and an extended hand of comfort and assistance. Because he struggled for so many years leading up to his accidental fatal overdose in June 2016, I will pick up his cross of conviction to put others first, to see the best in the least of these, and to never give up breathing life into the causes that were intricately woven into his character.
-Liz Beatty
Breaking the Silence Co-Coordinator
