Noah & Our Culture of Death
theophilus February 19th, 2009
I love the story of Noah, especially the part about the rainbow. It’s the perfect Old Testament story about redemption, mercy, salvation. Noah shows us how to live as a real man of God; listening, following, obeying, trusting, not being afraid.
But I often miss key points of Noah’s story, specifically those that come after the flood waters have receded. These points made by God to Noah (Genesis 9) shed some light on what God must really feel about our culture of death.
“For your own lifeblood, too, I will demand an accounting . . . from one man in regard to his fellow man I will demand an accounting for human life.”
“For in the image of God has man been made.”
“Be fertile, then, and multiply; abound on earth and subdue it.”
“See, I am now establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you.”
The sanctity of human life is paramount to God and he holds each of us individually accountable. Why? Because we have been made in his image.
Yet, we have a prevailing culture that cuts short life in the womb, with some wanting to cut it short at the other end as well.
God wants us to be fertile; yet we short-circuit our fertility, our very ability to allow God to act through us to create life.
God wants us to hold up our side of his covenant with us; yet too many of us want the trappings and pleasures of this world instead.
Unlike Noah, too many refuse to listen, follow, and obey God. Too many refuse to trust God and not be afraid. Too many turn our backs on the grace-filled, divine covenant that God seeks to renew with us each and every day, most notably through the Mass and confession.
In today’s gospel (Mark 8), St. Peter proclaims to Jesus, “You are the Christ.” We cannot proclaim the same if we embrace (or even tolerate) our culture of death. We must be strong men of God, like Noah, and take personal responsibility for our covenant with God; a covenant that finds a culture of life at its core.
Next time you see a rainbow, remember that God put it there as a sign personally to you; a sign of his love for you; a sign of his covenant with you; a sign that he expects you, yes you, to take personal accountability for promoting a culture of life.
Promoting life may go against the social whims of the time, but do you really think that Noah cared a whit of what the rest of society was saying about him as he went about building the ark? He trusted God and did his job. So should we.
