RUINED

Genesis 6:12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.

I recently found my old baseball glove. I really used it more for softball than baseball. Usually I played in the outfield. I've got some wheels and (when in shape) a pretty good arm too. (Insert story about how I threw a guy out at home plate from deep right field). I am not entirely sure what happened to my glove but when I found it there were white and greenish blue fuzzy spots all over it. If you got close enough, which I would not recommend, it had this musty stale smell. 

This of course is what happens when you leave a leather glove in a damp basement for a few years; untouched, unused and forgotten about. I literally put my hand in my glove and then noticed the spots. If you have any ideas on how to get it out please let me know! Until I get rid of the spots and the smell it really is unusable. Unfortunately for me and my glove, if those spots have been there for too long they will leave a permanent stain.

Naturally, this leads us to Noah. From verse eleven to verse thirteen “the earth” is mentioned six times and “to ruin” (translated as corrupt) is mentioned five times. We are meant to see that this ruining of the Earth is systemic, pervasive, everywhere. It begins with the ruining of individual people and soon becomes part of entire cultural systems. Put another way: the earth had become corrupt because the people had become corrupt. The ruining that starts in the heart or mind of an individual eventually affects the body too.

It starts with one person, and in time becomes part of societal and cultural expectations. What I realized is that even though the mold did not cover every square inch of my glove, even though it only touched certain parts, the entire glove smells, the entire glove is unusable. It is going to take a lot of patience and work to get my glove back to the way it used to be and there really is no guarantee that it will. I may be better off starting over with a new glove.

Just a Meandering Thought...