If you have ever caught me wearing this watch, I would like to tell you it’s real meaning. Of course anyone who sees this will assume I agree with certain organizations. Let me say clearly I respect and love all human kind, but this is not a symbol of my agreement with their beliefs or life choices.
This beautiful little piece serves two roles for me, first on the spiritual side. While I do not force my faith and relationship with the one and only God of the Bible, I hope it clearly shows to the world in my daily actions, and when I look at this watch I am reminded of a rainbow placed in the sky as a reminder that God would keep a very important promise that saves our world every day. Let me explain further, I promise my second reason will be far shorter and simpler than this.
Genesis 9:8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9. “Behold, I establish my covenant with you, 10. And with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. 11. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth”. 12. And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13. I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and he earth.
According to popular belief, the Genesis flood happened in 1300 – 1000 BC. I personally like the research done by Answers in Genesis that more directly locks down to 1656 AM (Anno Mundi – “Year of the World” from the Hebrew calendar)
If we look at records from history.com and multiple other resources, we find the use of the rainbow as a symbol for the gay rights movement really came into being in 1978 from artist, designer, Vietnam War veteran, and drag performer Gilbert Baker. He was commissioned to create the flag by another individual named Harvey Milk for San Francisco’s annual pride parade.
So looking at numbers from both events, the Biblical Flood from historical documents, and the creation of the flag in 1978… The question must be asked, who came up with the idea first… and doing a little conversion of the Anno Mundi calendar in 2023. (Which converted is actually 5783 AM) we find that 4,127 years have gone by since God’s covenant, and the rainbow being used. Pretty strong argument in favor of the Genesis flood.
With that knowledge, on a spiritual level. I wear this watch to remind me of the many covenants and promises God has made for each of us individually, and more selfishly, I claim it back from its theft from Christians for its original purpose. I also argue that if you look at the more recent uses of the gay rights colors, several more colors have been taken over the following years and added to the original concept. I would assume given long enough “all colors” would be used if they had their choice to continue the explanation of “diversity”.
Now while I have scared away or offended maybe 50% of the readers of this blog. Let me tell you my second reason, which is far more simplistic and pleasant.
This watch is a tool that I love looking at very much, simply because the gemstones around the watch’s bezel represent a perfect “color wheel” which artists like myself use daily to find harmonizing colors or finding colors that will push other colors towards grey/desaturating colors. In the end instead of having a bulky paper “color wheel” that for the life of me I cant find a good place to clip it, I wear this watch and peek at it when I need a basic reminder. I would HIGHLY suggest getting one for yourself for the same purpose, and “Pagani Design” watches does an absolutely fabulous job of making a premium quality watch. My wife actually purchased this one for me and I thrive in the gift every day and wear it with pride.
That’s my story! These are the real reasons I wear this watch. But in the end I want to remind the world that reads this… Christians have been given a commandment that we actually take great joy in, which makes my comments above that seem offensive suddenly simplify.
John 13:34 A new commandment I have to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another.
So while I reject the 1978 use of the rainbow, simply because it was already in use. (Imagine taking McDonald’s iconic M, and trying to use it as a symbol for veganism) to each and every person of all races (One race folks) , creeds, nationalities, colors, or personal life choices, I do love, and respect you as a human and respect you for your daily battle that each of us face equally. Simply trying to live life, finding joy in the daily little things, and trying to find out our ultimate purpose for being on this planet when we didn’t exactly get to decide weather we wanted to be born or not.