I was driving back from work on my motorbike like every day. There was a slight drizzle, but the sun was shining and I decided not to put on my raincoat. Then I saw the rainbow.

Suddenly everything seemed to slow down. It was the most beautiful rainbow I have ever seen in Chandigarh. High and bright and complete. I also started noticing the wonderful colours of the trees. Springtime in Chandigarh is the time for the leaves to turn yellow and red and fall off to make room for a fresh set. With the leaves falling around me, the beautiful sight of the rainbow and the refreshing rain I felt profoundly thankful for this moment.

I also thought about Easter that lay before us and wondered how many of my friends understand the meaning of Easter.  It is another, maybe the most potent, reason to be thankful. God, who made everything beautiful and good, made a way back into the beauty of having a relationship with Him. Every man is slowly dying, physically and spiritually, of self-inflicted wounds. Our polluted globe is a mirror to every honest man who looks inside and sees the junk of anger, impatience, selfish ambitions and dishonesty that mar God’s image in us. We long for a breath of fresh air, for a moment of wonder.

This is why there was a cross and an innocent Man dying on it that first Good Friday. Innocent he was, but infested with my anger, my impatience, my lies and hypocrisy. With Him my guilt died. And with Him on that first Easter Sunday, I rose to new life. Oh, how I long to be with him forever on a new, beautiful, unpolluted earth.

As I reached home yesterday I felt refreshed. I pray that you who read my blog will experience for yourself the beauty and wonder of Easter this year.

Keep running

Stephan