Monday, September 21, 2009

The Lord said to Noah....

It's raining. A lot. Which makes me think of Noah. I know that one afternoon of rain is nothing compared to what my family and friends have been experiencing in Texas for the last couple of weeks, or what folks in the southeast are getting right now. But my ceiling is leaking, so I'm feeling under a deluge.

Twice since yesterday morning the story of Noah has been brought up. The church we're attending in Tulsa is a Methodist church, and they pass out Bibles to the 3rd graders in order to encourage Bible learning. Yesterday was the Sunday that those were passed out, and the woman in charge of the kids' program gave a little speech. Her coworker (a teacher) mentioned in class that she thought she was going to have to build an ark to get to work because of the rain. Half of her students didn't get it. How sad is that? This is a Biblical story that is referenced constantly, at least in my world. How is it possible that these students were not aware of who Noah is, or why, in a torrential downpour, their teacher would need an ark to get to work?

The second time Noah was mentioned was today. I was watching a DVRed episode of Psych, and at the very beginning the two main characters are shown as children, discussing the story of Noah with their priest. Sean, the lead guy, has some very serious doubts about the reality of this story. He does make some interesting points, like why DIDN'T the lions eat the zebras? And how did koala bears get to the middle east, where the ark was built?

What a world we live in where children don't know this basic story. I know at least two songs about it. And unlike a lot of things about the Bible, I have not ever questioned Noah. Truly. I won't lie, I've had my doubts about some of this "stuff," even though I was raised with it (maybe because I was raised with it, who knows). But even with all the stuff about Noah that doesn't make sense to the logical side of my brain, it never occurred to me to wonder why the predators didn't eat the prey.

The scariest thing to me is that while God promised He would never do this to His people again, how many of us aren't His people? This world is a sinful place. There are storied every day about murder, rape, child abuse, acts of terror, genocide, et cetera. How much worse could it have been in Noah's day? I know that there will come a time when God will take His people outta here. I shudder to think how very bad it will be for those who are left behind....

1 comment:

  1. You bring up a good point. You know I have recently been trying to hash through the truth of the stuff that we were told as children (bible stories), and I am amazed when I think of the reality of these things! They really happened. It wasn't a cartoon... Crazy to think!

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