Filtered Water

Living in the Southeastern United States renders it almost impossible to read the Bible and actually see the words on the page. The "Bible belt" culture seeps into our imaginations, adding layers of interpretation to the text long before we open the book.

We picture Adam and Eve eating an apple in the garden of Eden, and the fact that there is not (and has never been) an apple in the story seems incomprehensible. Relatively few people can tell you the name of the tree that stood in the center of the garden...the forbidden fruit.

In case this comes as a surprise, and you don't have Genesis 2 & 3 handy...forbidden fruit comes from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Not as simple as an apple, and a lot more specific in its meaning.

As often as we add images and ideas into the text, we also screen things out. We become so familiar with the names and vague outlines of the stories that we lose the truly important details. Sometimes we filter out the vast majority of the story line.

Many of us learned our Bible as children, with stories cleaned up and sanitized to the rated G version of the story. We learned the basics at age 6 or 7 and never went back for more.

Case in point: Noah and the ark.

I am consistently stunned by the use of Noah and the ark in decorating baby nurseries. People make ark lamps and ark wall hangings and ark bookends and ark toys and ark Christmas tree decorations. We surround our infants and toddlers with images from the most horrific story in the Bible.

If you read the story of the flood in Genesis 6-8, you'll notice a disturbing detail. Aside from a small handful of people and a few animals, EVERYBODY DIES. All the people outside Noah's immediate family and all the animals except a select handful DROWN.

The story depicts the most comprehensively destructive natural disaster imaginable. Far worse than the southeast asian tsunami. Far worse than the devastation of hurricane Katrina.

But why concentrate on that little detail when you can focus your artistic efforts on the cute boat and sweet little animals? What child doesn't like boats and animals?

We've become so overly familiar with the idea of the ark that we've lost the underlying story.

Next time we see a toy ark, or a baby blanket covered in animals walking two by two, here are some things to ponder....

* How do we teach our children about the role of evil in human life and civilization?

* How do we take responsibility for the harm we daily cause ourselves, each other and the whole natural order?

* How can we read the story of Noah without tearing our clothes and crying out in horror?

* What kind of God sends forth the flood?

* If we were in the story, would we be on the boat, or part of the multitude in the waters?

* What manner of people are we, that we can read this story, la la la, and completely ignore all the death and suffering?

* Who is drowning right in front of us today while we play with our toy boats and line up our toy animals, two by two?