Image Credit & Copyright: Colin Leonhardt (Birdseye View Photography)
Explanation: Have you ever seen an entire rainbow? From the ground, typically, only the top portion of a rainbow is visible because directions toward the ground have fewer raindrops. From the air, though, the entire 360 degree circle of a rainbow is more commonly visible. Pictured here, a full circle rainbow was captured over Cottesloe Beach near Perth, Australia last year by a helicopter flying between a setting sun and a downpour. An observer-dependent phenomenon primarily caused by the internal reflection of sunlight by raindrops, the 84-degree diameter rainbow followed the helicopter, intact, for about 5 kilometers. As a bonus, a second rainbow that was more faint and color-reversed was visible outside the first.
Today is a day of humility for me. For something like 15 years, I have been going to the NASA website and viewing their picture of the day. I would estimate that I have viewed probably a thousand or more pictures of astronomical nature, but never, ever something like this. Frankly, I had no idea that rainbows were really ROUND!!!! So, this picture is an eye-opener!!!! As a frail representative of the human race, I think I know a few things and over time become convinced that some things are absolutely correct. And I am NOT ALONE IN THIS!!! Consider Job: righteous in his own eyes and suffering, most of the book that bears his name concerns itself with arguments between human beings over the reasons WHY Job is suffering so. But not all, for in the later part of this tale, Job interacts with God HIMSELF!!! The following is a an excerpt from the exchange....
Job 38:1-41 NASB
(1) Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said,
(2) "Who is this that darkens counsel By words without knowledge?
(3) "Now gird up your loins like a man, And I will ask you, and you instruct Me!
(4) "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding,
(5) Who set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it?
(6) "On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone,
(7) When the morning stars sang together And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
(8) "Or who enclosed the sea with doors When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb;
(9) When I made a cloud its garment And thick darkness its swaddling band,
(10) And I placed boundaries on it And set a bolt and doors,
(11) And I said, 'Thus far you shall come, but no farther; And here shall your proud waves stop'?
(12) "Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, And caused the dawn to know its place,
(13) That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, And the wicked be shaken out of it?
(14) "It is changed like clay under the seal; And they stand forth like a garment.
(15) "From the wicked their light is withheld, And the uplifted arm is broken.
(16) "Have you entered into the springs of the sea Or walked in the recesses of the deep?
(17) "Have the gates of death been revealed to you, Or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
(18) "Have you understood the expanse of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this.
(19) "Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And darkness, where is its place,
(20) That you may take it to its territory And that you may discern the paths to its home?
(21) "You know, for you were born then, And the number of your days is great!
(22) "Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, Or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
(23) Which I have reserved for the time of distress, For the day of war and battle?
(24) "Where is the way that the light is divided, Or the east wind scattered on the earth?
(25) "Who has cleft a channel for the flood, Or a way for the thunderbolt,
(26) To bring rain on a land without people, On a desert without a man in it,
(27) To satisfy the waste and desolate land And to make the seeds of grass to sprout?
(28) "Has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew?
(29) "From whose womb has come the ice? And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth?
(30) "Water becomes hard like stone, And the surface of the deep is imprisoned.
(31) "Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades, Or loose the cords of Orion?
(32) "Can you lead forth a constellation in its season, And guide the Bear with her satellites?
(33) "Do you know the ordinances of the heavens, Or fix their rule over the earth?
(34) "Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, So that an abundance of water will cover you?
(35) "Can you send forth lightnings that they may go And say to you, 'Here we are'?
(36) "Who has put wisdom in the innermost being Or given understanding to the mind?
(37) "Who can count the clouds by wisdom, Or tip the water jars of the heavens,
(38) When the dust hardens into a mass And the clods stick together?
(39) "Can you hunt the prey for the lion, Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
(40) When they crouch in their dens And lie in wait in their lair?
(41) "Who prepares for the raven its nourishment When its young cry to God And wander about without food?
(1) Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said,
(2) "Who is this that darkens counsel By words without knowledge?
(3) "Now gird up your loins like a man, And I will ask you, and you instruct Me!
(4) "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding,
(5) Who set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it?
(6) "On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone,
(7) When the morning stars sang together And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
(8) "Or who enclosed the sea with doors When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb;
(9) When I made a cloud its garment And thick darkness its swaddling band,
(10) And I placed boundaries on it And set a bolt and doors,
(11) And I said, 'Thus far you shall come, but no farther; And here shall your proud waves stop'?
(12) "Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, And caused the dawn to know its place,
(13) That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, And the wicked be shaken out of it?
(14) "It is changed like clay under the seal; And they stand forth like a garment.
(15) "From the wicked their light is withheld, And the uplifted arm is broken.
(16) "Have you entered into the springs of the sea Or walked in the recesses of the deep?
(17) "Have the gates of death been revealed to you, Or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
(18) "Have you understood the expanse of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this.
(19) "Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And darkness, where is its place,
(20) That you may take it to its territory And that you may discern the paths to its home?
(21) "You know, for you were born then, And the number of your days is great!
(22) "Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, Or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
(23) Which I have reserved for the time of distress, For the day of war and battle?
(24) "Where is the way that the light is divided, Or the east wind scattered on the earth?
(25) "Who has cleft a channel for the flood, Or a way for the thunderbolt,
(26) To bring rain on a land without people, On a desert without a man in it,
(27) To satisfy the waste and desolate land And to make the seeds of grass to sprout?
(28) "Has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew?
(29) "From whose womb has come the ice? And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth?
(30) "Water becomes hard like stone, And the surface of the deep is imprisoned.
(31) "Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades, Or loose the cords of Orion?
(32) "Can you lead forth a constellation in its season, And guide the Bear with her satellites?
(33) "Do you know the ordinances of the heavens, Or fix their rule over the earth?
(34) "Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, So that an abundance of water will cover you?
(35) "Can you send forth lightnings that they may go And say to you, 'Here we are'?
(36) "Who has put wisdom in the innermost being Or given understanding to the mind?
(37) "Who can count the clouds by wisdom, Or tip the water jars of the heavens,
(38) When the dust hardens into a mass And the clods stick together?
(39) "Can you hunt the prey for the lion, Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
(40) When they crouch in their dens And lie in wait in their lair?
(41) "Who prepares for the raven its nourishment When its young cry to God And wander about without food?
Job 40:1-5 NASB
(1) Then the LORD said to Job,
(2) "Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let him who reproves God answer it."
(3) Then Job answered the LORD and said,
(4) "Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to You? I lay my hand on my mouth.
(5) "Once I have spoken, and I will not answer; Even twice, and I will add nothing more."
(1) Then the LORD said to Job,
(2) "Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let him who reproves God answer it."
(3) Then Job answered the LORD and said,
(4) "Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to You? I lay my hand on my mouth.
(5) "Once I have spoken, and I will not answer; Even twice, and I will add nothing more."
Now, I couldn't answer all those questions of chapter 38 and I doubt anyone will ever be able to do so (let alone chapter 39). Then God Almighty says a few more things to Job... and HE GETS IT; JOB IS INSIGNIFICANT AND CANNOT REPLY ANY FURTHER!!!! Which is exactly the way I felt when viewing the rainbow above!!!!! Like I said.... Today is a day of humility (and the joke is on me- and it is a joke in the ROUND!!!!). My prayer for today is that God will teach me what I really need to know- and do it GENTLY!!!