Editor’s note: Throughout July, we’re hosting 31 Days with St. Ignatius, a month-long celebration of Ignatian spirituality. In addition to the calendar of Ignatian articles found here, posts on dotMagis this month will explore the theme of “Finding God in the Unexpected.”
“Have you ever seen the rain comin’ down on a sunny day?”
As I glanced out the window, the old Creedence Clearwater Revival song came to mind.
It was a bright and sunny day, and it was pouring. As the droplets fell, they were illuminated and magnified by the golden glow of the afternoon sun. It appeared to be raining gold coins.
I stood transfixed, holding my breath as if any movement at all might somehow alert nature to my awareness of its beauty and stop the show altogether.
A neighbor, hugging her groceries to her chest, ran up her steps and slipped into her home. She’s missing it! I thought. But just as quickly as I had the thought, memories of prisms in my high school science class reminded me that she could not see what I was seeing, because her angle to the sun and rain was different from mine.
Another time, my husband and I were driving on a sunny day when it started to rain. It was about four in the afternoon. The sun was at an angle that illuminated the tire spray in such a way that all the spray behind each car’s tires in all five lanes became rainbows. Every car was turning out rainbows. It was absolutely spectacular. I asked my husband if he saw it. “See what?” he said. In the passenger seat, I alone was at an angle to the sun and rain to allow me to see the rainbows that formed as the sun shone through the road spray.
It was as if these beautiful phenomena were just for me. Both were so stunning that prayers of gratitude arose spontaneously from my heart. I imagine that St. Ignatius might remind me that it wasn’t as if they were for me; they were just for me. The God of Surprises is always seeking to rain down love upon each one of us. God always seeks to turn our eyes to beauty and gift us in ways we couldn’t even think to imagine.
For many, nature is that place where we most often notice God’s gifts. Have you ever experienced unexpected moments of transcendent beauty in nature?
Today in 31 Days with St. Ignatius, read Apple Picking and Discernment by Marina Berzins McCoy. When or where have you encountered God in the unexpected? Share with #31DayswithIgnatius on social media.
