Thursday, October 27, 2011

October 27, 2011

“Need an ark? I Noah guy.” So reads one of the cartoons on the bulletin board in the Friendship Room. There are lots of Noah cartoons posted there. The story of Noah and the Ark is familiar and we chuckle over jokes about it; we also think of it when we board the ferry to Nanaimo, or pause for a minute after a storm as we search the skies for a rainbow.

The covenant God makes with Noah – and the promise God makes to God’s very self – are of course the main point of the story. We can trust God not to destroy us, or the world. Even when times are rough, or things are falling apart around us, or we feel completely “at sea”, God promises to love us and support us.

It’s intriguing, though, to look for the less familiar parts of the story. Do you remember the raven? God sends a dove that returns with an olive leaf, a sign of dry land appearing. But the raven simply flies to and fro, to and fro. We never hear if she returns, or nests, or gets lost. I think the raven reminds us that many people flit to and fro, to and fro, looking or nesting or lost. How do we reach out to one who is looking or nesting or lost? That is our challenge, our calling, and God’s mission.  


Blessings on you, as you bring your compassion to the looking or nesting or lost.

The Rev. Dr. Catherine Faith MacLean

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