“… The waters swelled so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered; the waters swelled above the mountains, covering them 15 cubits deep.
And all flesh died that moved on the earth: birds, domestic animals, wild animals, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all human beings; everything on dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. …”
Igor Khalandovskiy (b. Ukraine 1970), Ancient Storm Painting, 2012, United States, acrylic on canvas.
Bible Passage: Genesis 6:5 - 9:29
My Big Story Bible: Page 12
By this point in our journey with scripture, you are bound to have some questions. If they haven’t arisen before, certainly this week’s story raises some complex themes and issues, for instance:
Why so soon after the story of creation do we find a story where God “blots it out”?
The video below might help begin to answer some of those questions, but I would encourage you not to move to answers too soon. Instead, embrace that this is a journey we are undertaking as a community, and wrestle with these questions together.
You could do this by asking a friend to join you in the ancient practice of Havruta.
You can find this and other ways of listening to God through scripture on our Ways of Praying page.