Not seeing it

One of my sons has partial color blindness.

On a recent rainy day, he was looking for rainbows. There, in the foggy distance, was the makings of one. It remained low on the horizon, not extending far into the otherwise cloudy sky. Nonetheless, there it was. Reds, yellows, violets. A little green.

“Look, buddy! There it is!”

He couldn’t see it.

Hard as he tried, my son couldn’t see the color.

I explained where it was. Pointed to it. Described what I was seeing.

It was something about the daylight and color saturation; my son just couldn’t see what I saw.

We moved on ... looking for beauty in other places. Beauty we could see together.

* * *

And so it is. There will be times when we want to see something, and we desperately try … but to no avail. Even if it’s right there in front of us.

Do we give up looking?

No. Instead, we practice patience. We try to see another way. Or we seek other places, where there are different conditions and the lighting is just right.

Just because we don’t see it right now doesn’t mean we won’t ever see it.

Keep looking. Keep seeking.