The Boy Who Chased Rainbows

By James E. Kerns

A true story

 

"Look at that beautiful rainbow," Jamie's mother said.  Jamie's father added, "Did you know that there's a pot of gold buried at the end of the rainbow, Jamie?"

Jamie hadn't known that, but it made him excited to hear it.  Right away he started to plan.  His parents were always worrying about their lack of money.  Digging up the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow would be the answer to all of their problems.

Jamie put a shovel on the porch by the back door.  He knew that rainbows didn't last long.  The next time a rainbow appeared on their land, he wanted to be able to grab the shovel and run to the end of the rainbow before it disappeared.

Jamie watched and waited.  Two months went by.  There were rainbows during that time, but they were too far away, and on someone else's land where he couldn't dig.

Jamie kept watching and waiting.  Finally one day he saw the rainbow he'd been waiting for.  It was in the field east of his house.  He grabbed his shovel and ran!

Jamie ran as fast as he could.  He kept his eye on the end of the rainbow, but he began to become confused.  His running slowed, and then he stopped.  At that moment he learned something about rainbows.  They can't be caught.  The rainbow had stayed just so far ahead of him, and had moved away just as fast as he approached it.  The end of the rainbow was now in the neighbor's field where he couldn't go.  And since the rainbow kept moving, Jamie had no idea where to dig.

Jamie was a sad boy as he turned homeward.  His dream of helping his parents vanished.  He felt a little foolish for believing his father's joke.  He never told anyone what he'd done.

Years went by.  Jamie had a happy childhood.  He grew up.  Now he was known as James.  He was 19 years old when he started his second year of college hundreds of miles away from home.  He was no longer happy.  He was homesick.  He hated college.  He hated the place he was in.  He hated the constant rain.  He was depressed and at the very lowest point of his life.  He called his parents and told them that he was quitting college and coming home.

It was October.  James got in his car and started for home.  He was feeling very, very low.  What was going to happen to him?  Would he ever be happy again?  He drove up the west side of Oregon's Cascade Mountains.  Suddenly it started to snow.  Huge snowflakes came down, blanketing the trees and road.  It was a beautiful sight.  It was so beautiful that James stopped his car at a wide spot in the road so that he could watch the falling snow.

The beautiful snowfall triggered something inside him.  For the first time in his life, James prayed.  He thanked his Father in Heaven for the beautiful sight that he was seeing, and then he poured out his problems to God.  He prayed out loud.  There was no place else to turn.  No one else could help him.

James started his car and continued up the mountain.  He continued to pray as he drove.  The snow continued to fall until he reached the summit.  As he started down the east side of the mountain, the snowfall changed to a gentle rain.  The sun shone through the rain.  In front of him a brilliant rainbow appeared.  It was a perfect bow, and incredibly beautiful.

James continued to pray.  He thanked his Father in Heaven for this second beautiful sight.  He prayed, he drove, and he watched the rainbow.  It stayed just so far in front of him.  Sometimes it was on one side of the road, and sometimes on the other as he rounded curves.  Sometimes the rainbow made a perfect arch over the road in front of him.  It looked like he could drive under it.  But James remembered the rainbow that he'd chased when he was a boy.  He knew that you can't catch rainbows or drive under them.

For 200 miles James followed the rainbow.  For over three hours he prayed, and drove, and watched his rainbow.  The rainbow never dimmed.  Not once.  The rain continued to gently fall.  The sun continued to shine.  The rainbow stayed just ahead, and remained as brilliant as it was the moment it first appeared.

James reached the border of his home county.  He still prayed.  It started to rain very hard.  The sun continued to shine.  He rounded a corner, and then it happened.

He caught the rainbow!

Had James' window been open, he could have thrust his arm right out into the rainbow.  James was stunned.  It took his breath away.  It was like a voice had spoken.  A real voice couldn't have been more plain.  It said, "Everything is going to be all right."

James was shaken.  For the second time that trip he pulled over to the side of the road and stopped.  As soon as he did, though, he realized that the rainbow was leaving him.  He quickly pulled back onto the road, but the rainbow was gone.

The next significant thing that happened to James was that he was given a copy of the Book of Mormon.  He stood it upright in the center of the desk in his room.  For two weeks it stood there untouched.  James was savoring the moments.  He knew that when he started to read the book that he'd have a special experience.

Finally in late December he opened the book and began to read.  He read and read.  It was hard to tear himself away from the book to go out and help his father feed the cattle.  All he wanted to do was read.

When he was halfway through the book, James was given a copy of Joseph Smith's testimony.  Joseph Smith's testimony was even more stirring than the Book of Mormon.  Just think, a prophet in our own day!

On 9 January 1967 James knelt in the middle of his room and told Heavenly Father that he knew the Book of Mormon was true, and that Joseph Smith was a prophet.  He wanted to be baptized and become a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

James spent January and February studying, repenting, attending church and preparing for baptism.  He read all of the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants.  He was told that he must listen to the missionaries' discussions before being baptized.  James found out where they lived, and knocked on their door one evening.  "Hi, my name is James," he told them.  "I'd like to hear your discussions.  You won't need to worry about me giving you any trouble.  I've read the Book of Mormon and know that it's true."

James was baptized by his future father-in-law on 4 March 1967.  The girl who would marry him 2 1/2 years later came home from college to play the piano at his baptism.  She had been the one who gave him the Book of Mormon.  After the baptism she took him to her house where he broke down and cried.  He was so happy, and felt so clean.

Later in his life James sometimes told the story about catching the rainbow.  He'd always say that he found the pot of gold, too.  The treasure that he found was the Book of Mormon, a testimony of the gospel, membership in the Church, and the priesthood.

Thirty-five years later, when James was a grandfather, he suddenly realized that his pot of gold had grown.  At Sunday dinner he looked around and found himself and his wife surrounded by 30 other people—all of his 10 children, their spouses, and his grandchildren.  There would be many more—and he loved them all.

They say that you can't take your earthly treasures to heaven with you.  But James can have his treasures there.  He'll still have his testimony.  He'll still have his priesthood.  He'll still be a member of the Church. —And when he invites his family to Sunday dinner there won't be any empty seats at the table, because all of his children and grandchildren and great grandchildren will be there with him.