Nepal

Years ago I took a trip to Asia and experienced the breathtaking sights, the cacophony of sounds, the diversity of the land reflected in the faces of the people and the rich cultural heritage of Northern India. I learned so much about the history and traditions of the people of Northern India and about what anchors their beliefs to the land of their ancestors. I discovered things about the people I never would have otherwise learned and I discovered things about myself that I would have never otherwise learned.

In just a few short days I will be returning to that part of the world. To a region close to Northern India. To a land of deeply held traditions and cultural heritage. Nepal is a country that sits on top of the world... so-to-speak.

Nepal rises from as low as 190 feet in tropical Terai, the northern rim of the Gangetic Plain where temperatures can reach up to 110F, to beyond the perpetual snow line where 90 peaks over 7,000 meters including Everest can be found and temperatures can be as cold as anything in the polar regions.The average annual precipitation varies from as little as 6.3 inches in the north of the Himalaya to as much as 216.5 inches on windward slopes.

I go to observe, to listen, to share from my own life and experiences and perhaps to challenge some to think and see beyond themselves and their current circumstances to something greater than themselves. The best way for me to share my story is to first listen to theirs. That will be the first thing I do. 

Listen to the stories that surround you. Listen to the stories of hurt, pain, loss, survival and you will hear stories similar to yours. You may even hear stories that inspire you to do and be more without having to travel to a far off place. Maybe what you hear will inspire you to go to a far off place to inspire others.

Just a Meandering Thought...

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...

VIOLENCE

Genesis 6:11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence.

Maybe you heard the news story in 2014 about extremists of a particular religion in the Middle East doing door to door evangelism... sort of. The message of ISIS in Northern Iraq was roughly, "By the end of the week you must leave your home, convert to our ideology or die. If you missed that story here is an article from then so you can get caught up from The Telegraph.

Refugees gathering in the hopes of supplies and escape
(Photo Credit)

It was a campaign of intimidation, manipulation violence and the threat of violence. ISIS systematically went through towns in Northern Iraq and the result was a humanitarian crisis that brought in the American military for assistance.

Violence in some capacity is the result of unchecked evil.

The word “violence” in this verse from Genesis is a translation of the Hebrew word chamas. Think guttural, like you are clearing your throat, This word denotes any antisocial behavior or unneighborly activity. Elsewhere in the Old Testament it is translated as "malicious" and "cruel". Very often it involves the use of brute force or threat of force but it may also be the exploitation of the weaker by the stronger.

Amos 6:1-3 uses this word to speak against the powerful taking advantage of the weak and the rich taking advantage of the poor. Proverbs 16:29 uses this word to speak against the clever exploiting the naive. Scripture consistently speaks against those who exploit others and calls it violence.

What ISIS was doing in Northern Iraq that summer (what they continue to do) is the kind of "violence" described in Genesis 6. The threatening use of force by those with perceived power over those without power, the exploitation of the weak by the able, the poor by the rich, the have not's by the have's, When the use of violence for the exploitation and the intimidation of weak becomes the norm God knows it is time to step in and do something. Wouldn't you want someone to?

Just A Meandering Thought...

EARTH

Genesis 6:11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence.

Have you ever had a dream, a vision for the future, a hope beyond the present? Have you ever made big plans and had them spoiled, ruined by someone or something... poured yourself into a project and then watched someone else mishandle it and had the whole thing fall apart? 

Genesis six tells us that the wickedness of man had corrupted the earth. God had a dream, a vision for something but man mishandled it. This word "corrupt" in the Hebrew literally means to ruin or bring to ruin. The root of “to ruin” is used to describe the spoiling of a garment, or a pot as in with the stale smell and splotchy stain of mold. In other places it is used to describe the sudden destruction of peoples and cities in war, or through divine judgment. So in this word we have a picture of something being spoiled in a smelly splotchy kind of way to the point of being destroyed.

At the end of each day of creation we read “and God saw…” because God looked at creation and was pleased. By the time we get to chapter six God is heart broken at what he sees; heart broken over the ruin, the spoiling, the corruption of his creation. No wonder he wanted to wipe humanity from the Earth.

So at this point in the narrative God sees a spoiled dream, plans brought to ruin, a mishandled, uncared for, abused and unprotected hope that is falling apart. Does this sound like anything you have ever experienced? God knows the pain of loss, the angst that comes with the smelly splotchy spoiling of a dream? Good thing this is not the end of the story.

Just a meandering thought...

HOPE

Genesis 6:10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.

Ever notice that when a movie does really well, the director and/or producer start thinking about a trilogy? The number three holds special meaning for many cultures at many points in history. There is meaning to be mined that exists just below the surface in many points of scripture. Not a super spiritual meaning, not a key that unlocks spiritual blessing, just a fuller understanding of what scripture is communicating that takes a little digging.

Noah's three sons are named three times in the flood narrative; this is the first of the three times they are named. Any time you see a set of three referred to three times it is time to start asking some questions. Why are they mentioned? What is the significance? Where else is this group mentioned and where else are there groups of three mentioned? 

In the ancient world a son meant hope for the future of your family line. In this case not just Noah's line but all of humanity. Three sons was like God  telling Noah and the first people to hear the story of Noah, "Even though the future looks bleak, harsh, hopeless, empty, there is a hope for the future. This mess will not be the end of the story." 

We all experience set backs, we experience let downs. Those of us who breathe air have in the past and will experience in the future varying degrees of darkness. Noah bringing three sons onto the Ark reminds us that setbacks are not always just setbacks. Sometimes setbacks are set-ups for something more meaningful and life altering. And let downs are not always just let downs. Sometimes let downs, with a little letting go, can result in a lift off! 

I guess what I am trying to say is that the current situation the current mess does not have to be the end of the story.

Just a Meandering Thought...

WALK

Genesis 6:9 "...and he walked faithfully with God."

There are three men who are said to have walked with God in the early chapters of Genesis: Noah, Enoch and Adam.

Adam walked with God in ideal conditions, a place of utter perfection and peace. In a place that had almost no rules, not even have a dress code, where Adam walked with God in the cool of the evening with the divine designer of a perfect garden. In a place with one rule Adam still messed up.

We don’t know anything about Enoch’s situation but at the very least it was not the peace and perfection of the Garden. Even though Enoch had less than ideal conditions, God took him to heaven without having experienced death.

Noah walked with God and God delivered him from the flood.  We know that Noah had it pretty bad; yet he managed to walk with God in tough conditions.

Here is what I know: sometimes we are like Adam and we cave under the pressure of the storm. Sometimes we are like Enoch and God delivers us from the the storm altogether. Sometimes we are like Noah and God delivers us through the storm. God is still God, we trust, obey, look to, walk with, God.

We have little control over the situations we sometimes find ourselves. Sometimes life just happens, relationships at work turn sour, conditions at home become unsafe, family stuff becomes complicated… Love is lost and it feels like you will never find it again… pressure comes from unexpected places. God is still God.

May I state the obvious? Walking with God is not running from God, not hiding from God, not escaping difficulty, not a get out of jail free card. Walking with God is breathing every breath knowing God is there and knowing that that is not a bad thing. Walking with God is taking every step every day with an awareness that you are a living, breathing, thinking, feeling, miracle; it is seeing yourself in the mirror and knowing in your soul that you are God's greatest idea.  God sees something in you that you don’t see in yourself. God knows you in ways that you cannot know yourself apart from him. God accepts you at levels that you do not accept yourself. 

Just a Meandering Thought...

RIGHT

Genesis 6:9 This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.

Noah is described as righteous and blameless. “Righteous” describes a person who observes God’s laws and avoids wrongdoing. There is a positive and negative aspect to being righteous, doing what is right and not doing what is not right. 

The author throws in the phrase "Blameless among the people of his time". This is not scripturally endorsed relativism as if Noah was blameless compared to the people of his time. Rather, even though Noah's generation was so "wicked" God decided the best course of action was a massive uncreation event, blameless means Noah could lay his head down at night knowing that he had dealt properly and fairly with those he interacted with. No one could point a finger at him and accuse him of anything that even appeared shady.

We are meant to see a contrast here. The corruption of the Earth and humanity stated earlier in the chapter compared to a righteous and blameless man, Noah. The future Noah saw is described in the first verses of  chapter six. An alternate future, one God desired to create, may have seemed like imaginative calisthenics. The contrast existed between the future that seemed inevitable and the future God wanted for humanity. Noah knew he had a destiny.

The events of Noah's time are intended to show us not so much why God decided to uncreate creation, but rather why God chose to save Noah. It was because of the nature of the relationship he maintained with God and the nature of the relationships he maintained with others, his neighbors. We should also see what is possible when both are in good condition.

Just a meandering thought...