Word to the Wise
Thursday, February 19, 2009 - Thursday in the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
[Genesis 9:1-13 and Mark 8:27-33]This is the sign that I am giving for allages to come, of the covenant between me and you and every living creature with you; I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
What is it about a rainbow that continually moves and inspires? We all know that it is a natural phenomenon and how it occurs but that still doesn't stop us from writing songs and poems about it and calling our friends to tell them to look out the window to see it. In Genesis today we are told that God created the rainbow to serve as a sign of the covenant between God and all of creation - which, whether we humans like it or not, includes us! Sometimes we forget this, as in the song lyrics: "I've got the world on a string, sittin' on a rainbow, got the string around my finger....." Yes, I know, the lyric describes the feeling of being in love. But I think the image goes beyond that to the issue of just how much "superiority" humans are entitled to. If God's covenant is with all of creation, how do we fit in? Is the purpose of the rainbow merely to guide us to a pot of gold? The rainbow is a sign of hope. The storm is past. "Nature" is forgiven! But then we go back to "business as usual!" The sacred covenant is forgotten. If we are reminded of "yesterday's rainbow" do we just say, "That was then. This is now?" Who wants to be reminded of the flood and that ark that got so nasty after all those days? Well, the rainbow is a reminder to us of the reason for the flood. We forget that we are not the masters of the world. God's covenant places limits on our desires! These are important things to remember! A favorite PEANUTS cartoon of mine shows Lucy Van Pelt and her little brother, Linus, standing at a plate glass window watching a downpour outside. Lucy comment, "Look at it raining cats and dogs! I wonder what would happen if it rained forty days and forty nights? Linus looks up at her solemnly and says, "That can't happen!" She growls down at him: "And why not?" Linus replies, "God promised he would never again destroy the world by flood and the rainbow was the sign of the promise - Genesis 9:13!" Lucy replies: "You have no idea how great a burden you have removed from my shoulders!" Linus answers: "Sound theology has a way of doing that!" AMEN
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