An Arkie’s Faith The double rainbow

days are dark and dreary.”

But Longfellow doesn’t leave us in his dark place. The final stanza says, “Be still, sad heart! And cease repining; Behind the clouds is the sun still shining; Thy fate is the common fate of all, Into each life some rain must fall, Some days must be dark and dreary.” sky from horizon to horizon. I stood in awe of the beauty before me.

Into every life, a little rain must fall. It’s what we do with the rain that makes the difference. Rain can be a force that destroys our lives and washes away hope, or it can become a tool God uses to bring healing, growth, and new life to our hearts.

What are we afraid of when the rains of this life come our way? Are we afraid of getting wet? Nowhere in the Bible does God tell us that we won’t get wet. Pain in all its forms is the standard universal human denominator we all share. Your pain and difficulties differ from mine, but we all have them.

A rainbow is a natural phenomenon that occurs when light is refracted or bent as it passes through water droplets in the air. It is seen as a band of vibrant colors, including red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. The colors of the rainbow are arranged in a specific order and are caused by the different wavelengths of light being refracted at different angles. Double rainbows are formed when sunlight is reflected twice within a raindrop.

Rainbows always make me smile, and seeing a double rainbow was a fantastic experience. Seeing the double rainbow made it worth going through the rain. It was a moment in time that I will never forget.

Do you like the rain? I tend not to like rain very much, especially if I have an outdoor activity or work planned. We don’t like rain unless we have crops that need water. Few of us look out the window on a rainy day and say, “What a great day!” The rain gets in the way of our comfort.

Too often, we let the possibility of something going wrong keep us from doing something we want. “But what if something goes wrong?” we say. “What if it rains on my parade?” We fail to reach our potential in life because we are too timid. But, “God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” 2

Timothy 1:7 (NLT)

And God is telling you the same thing. Don’t let fear of failure keep you from doing great things. Don’t let the threat of rain keep you from being all God wants you to be.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote a very personal poem titled “The Rainy Day.” The poem’s first lines read, “The day is cold, and dark, and dreary; It rains, and the wind is never weary.”

He personalizes his thoughts in the second stanza, “My life is cold, and dark, and dreary; It rains, and the wind is never weary; My thoughts still cling to the moldering Past, But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast, And the

We see this concept in Matthew 5:45 (GW): “He makes his sun rise on people whether they are good or evil. He lets rain fall on them whether they are just or unjust.”

God doesn’t tell us that we won’t have rainy days. He says, “Even if it rains, I will be there for you. You may get wet, but it will be OK.”

And sometimes rain brings a beautiful rainbow. “When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth.” Genesis 9:16 (NLT)

Gentle Reader, God displayed a visible reminder to me of His everyday grace with the double rainbow. It reminded me of His promise to extend a common grace to all living things.

How often do we take that promise for granted? I know that often the busyness of my life makes me lose my focus on God even though the evidence of His daily grace is all around me. This week, I pray that I will not lose focus but instead remember the rainbow and God’s promises.

AMES continued from page 9 mented trip to Europe in 1840 he underwent a dental procedure that exposed him to mercury. He reportedly suffered a slow and painful death over the next few years, eventually dying Apr. 3, 1847.

Soon after Nathan’s death, the N. P. Ames name was not used to identify his swords. The name used for the next 20-plus years was when the that all of Lou’s memorabilia would be donated to the local Masonic Lodge. This included the sword and his Masonic ring. Sadly, both the sword and the ring were stolen.

It’s sad that someone would have such low moral fiber that they would do such a thing. I put them in the same class as the people who stole my deceased son Vernon Hampton’s 1965 Mustang about a month ago. Fortunately, the Mustang was found intact.

Vernon and the cannons [Eds. Pulse Multi-Media does not condone or encourage the following. Neither does the author.] park where we could witness both cannons from a city block away. Ten feet of fuse does not burn very fast, but in a few moments name Ames Manufacturing Company marked the swords with “Ames Mfg. Co., Chicopee, Mass.”

Vernon and Larry’s cannon went off with a ball of fire about 50 feet long. My cannon fired with the same flaming display 15 seconds later. Both powder and soft dirt burning is what made such a display we were proud of.

Looking back, that probably was not a good idea.

Vernon and Larry were teenagers and I was acting like one.

Now you know why I took an interest in the Pulse’s story that included the Ames name.

The 1863 name and date on the park cannon falls within this period of time.

The reason for all of this boring information is that approximately three years ago I gave a very nice, well-preserved, pre-Civil War sword to my next-door neighbor Ms. Sandy Brooks. It was made by the Ames Company in the form of a Masonic presentation sword, presented to a Mason before the Civil War.

I gave the sword to Ms. Brooks because her deceased husband, Lou Brooks was a 32nd degree Mason, as was my own father Fred V. Hampton. I gave the sword to Sandy in remembrance of Lou.

The sword stayed in the Brooks’ home until her death. Her will stated

The only humor going back to the two park cannons was about 35 years ago when Vernon, a close friend of ours named Larry and myself went to Janssen Park on a Halloween night with a pound of black powder, fuse cord and about 10 pounds of soft dirt. Vernon and Larry were at the Cyrus Alger and Company cannon and I was at the Ames cannon.

We removed the bois d’arc (aka Osage-orange) apples, or horse apples, whichever you want to call them from the muzzle of the cannons. We assumed kids had put them in there. We then put a half pound of black powder and 10 feet of fuse in each cannon, then packed the soft dirt on top of the powder.

When all was ready, we lit both fuses and made for a rapid departure to our awaiting getaway truck. We drove to the north side of the

Written by Rebecca Thornton. Master Gardener Yard of the Month Committee Chairman

The Polk County Master Gardeners are proud to present our June Yard of the Month to Philip and Kathleen Ference at 190 Polk Road 89, Mena. This couple has lived here nine years, originally from Pennsylvania where weather conditions are quite different.

Asked how they adapted to Mena’s weather conditions for planning their yard, Philip said Kathleen studied everything she could to find out how to take care, plant and nurture every plant.

Kathleen is a retired registered nurse. She said it is in her nature to want to take care of everybody and