But I want to get beyond cutesy coloring pages, flannel boards, and first impression take aways. I don't claim to be a brilliant theologian. I struggle with Lewis as much as the next guy unless we're adventuring in Narnia. However, it seems to me that when we want to learn how to shelter in place, Noah is the only one we have to turn to.
The Israelites wandered, David fled all over the countryside from Saul, Joshua conquered, and Daniel defied.... but Noah got locked inside and had to stay.
It's really easy to gloss over that. We talk about the preparation to build the boat. How he must've been laughed at and mocked. We talk about the animals coming two by two (and the seven for ceremonial reasons). We talk about the forty days and nights of torrential rain. And we talk about the dove and the olive branch and the rainbow.
There's actually a whole heck of a lot of time between God sealing the door shut and when Noah and family disembarked. It's about a year actually. About twelve months of sheltering in place. No leaving. Not even for a gallon of milk. Of course, they had a cow so that must've helped.
I've been in on lengthy discssions about the animals. Were they babies? Did God allow them to sleep so the scary ones didn't eat everybody on board? And what about the saltwater and freshwater creatures?
But right now, I wanna know about Noah and his family. And we simply just don't know. The scriptures don't tell us how they felt and what they did. Yet, I think we can make some inferences here with our own experiences of the unprecedented.
That word. It's ubiquitous now, isn't it? But we don't have any other way of saying, "I've never done this before! None of us have! I don't know what to do!" Instead we say, "oh, this is so unprecedented!" And Noah surely must've felt that strain. It had never rained before. And we also know waters erupted from below the Earth's crust. Um, yikes. If I've never seen or heard rain before, and it's a continuous torrential downpour and there's also water coming UP from the ground, I'm going to be scared. I assume Noah and his people were afraid.
That doesn't mean they didn't have faith. That doesn't mean their righteousness was diminished. It means they were humans living through something they had never lived through before. And I don't care what it is--that always creates some fear. Even good things we've never done before make our pits sweat--like falling in love or talking to your favorite banjo boy in actual rational sentences. It took me 2 years but whatever. The point is, new things are scary things. And when those things are actually destructive and threatening, it's normal to be scared.
Even if the danger is "out there." Noah and family knew that they were safe inside their ark. But how do you float in peace, knowing that others are suffering outside? I have to assume this was a very dark and difficult experience for the Noahs. Perhaps it was even traumatic despite the fact that they weren't at risk.
So the rains finally stop. They float awhile longer. The boat finally comes to rest on Mt. Ararat. They wait awhile longer. They open up a window and the ground isn't ready to sustain life. So they wait. Then the bit with the birds. And they wait.
There was so much waiting. Can we also go ahead and assume the Noahs got bored? The same eight people for a year. And...well, for a long time after that actually. The same animals. At some point, the lions and lemurs and llamas had to stop being a novelty. Unless the sons of Noah were like the Wild Kratts. In which case, I'm going to assume their wives wanted a real break from all the over excitement after a while. Yes, I think they got bored and they got tired of each other. The logistics of sleeping, eating, bathing, cleaning, and just living day after day in a boat with your parents, siblings, and in-laws had to be a real exercise in patience.
Yep, I think this is us right now. We're stuck inside and starting to go bonkers already. And let's face it: We're scared. We're inside aware of the suffering outside in our hospitals, around the world. And unlike the Noahs, we don't know for sure that we're safe and sound even as we shelter in place. This virus is "slippery". That seems to be an actual term to describe it as it mutates and spreads. I don't like slippery, even when we're talking about soap. I like to have a grip on things. And right now, that's really hard to achieve.
And if you're one of the "essentials" who has to go to work all the advice to make the most of this doesn't apply to you. And if you're a healthcare worker, truly, my prayers are with you.
So where's the happy takeaway? Don't worry, I do have one.
Here's what else I deduce from what we don't know about Noah: God must've been performing miracles in their midst as they sheltered in place. Somehow or another all the animals fit and they didn't eat each other up. The specifics are unknown but clearly, miraculous. They had enough food and water to last the journey. How produce didn't rot and decay over the course of a year, I don't know. Miraculous. They didn't throttle and kill each other! Eight people went in and eight people came out. I'm being slightly facetious with this one, but it does seem as though everyone was still on speaking terms when they left the boat. Relationships were sustained despite extremely strenuous circumstances. Miraculous.
God is performing miracles in our midst too. As we shelter in place. I shared previously in a Gather the Good about all the beautiful things artists are doing on social media. The human default setting is panic and selfishness and anger. But we see people choosing beauty instead. And in that, there is peace and joy. That's a miracle. Needs are being met and will continue to be met. People are buying extras not to hoard but to donate to food pantries and hungry school kids. In grocery stores, people are giving older folks and weeping mothers out of their share so they can be nourished and safe too. That's miraculous. And we have knowledge and soap and Purell and indoor plumbing which is so much more than most humans have had been facing a pandemic and certainly more than Noah on his boat. I think anyone from another age would look at all these things we take for granted and declare it, "miraculous."
And we have the internet where we connect. Artists with their beauty. Pastors with their encouragement for their flocks. Writers with their words to try to describe and explain this unprecedented time. Friends with their love unlimited by walls and six feet of space. The internet is indeed miraculous despite what the darkness has done to it. We can still use it for good. And we should and we will.
One day, we will look over our shoulders and see more miracles that we do not have eyes to see right now. For now, shelter in place and keep the faith.
Gather the Good
- Patrick Stewart, A Sonnet a Day Keeps the Doctor Away, Instagram
- Sarah Clarkson, Psalms & Poems, Instagram
- The East Pointers (and friends), #Annedemic, Facebook at 6pm EST
- We Banjo 3, daily doses of all sorts of music, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube.
- Yo Yo Ma, Calming Songs, Instagram
- Josh Gad, Picture books for Kids, Instagram daily at 7pm EST
- Annie F. Downs, Picture books for kids, Instagram daily at 7pm EST
- Andrew Llyod Webber, musical selections, Instagram
- Andrew Peterson, read aloud of his novel Wingfeather, Instagram daily at 8pm EST
- Donation concerts, indie bands everywhere. Check their social media for details.
Remember to Chalk the Walk, put a teddy bear in the window, and hang your Christmas lights!!
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