Reminder

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.”

—Genesis 9:8-17

Rainbows are happy things. Their beauty fills us with wonder. They inspire our dreams and hopes for a brighter future. This was my third attempt to paint a rainbow. An earlier attempt was to put my own spin on the quintessential “happy” rainbow. It turned out very nice, and would go great in any child’s room or Sunday school class. But happy rainbows didn’t seem to satisfy me. They didn’t seem consistent with the context of the story. The story of Noah is one of great sorrow, loss and healing. I wanted to paint Noah’s rainbow—a sign of remembrance.

We are so tempted to cuddle up with the animals and bask in rainbow colors with our children. But recent natural disasters in our world awaken the realities of Noah’s story for me. I imagine the rainbow that Noah saw felt more like a peace offering. An assurance that this kind devastation would never happen again. An encouragement to a survivor trying to live in a “new normal.”

We assume the rainbow is meant to be a reminder for us alone. But the story repeatedly says that the covenant was established between God and humanity and ALL living creatures of every kind. It also proclaims that when the rainbow appears, GOD remembers the covenant as well. We see a rainbow and remember a story with a promise. God sees a rainbow and remembers an event and a bond with all creation—even to creatures who could never ponder the depth of such a sign.

So, I tried to paint God’s covenantal sign. The sign that appears after the storm—transforming chaos into peace and fear into hope. A loving reminder for God and all of God’s creatures on this earth. Our rainbow.

Wisdom

Who could have imagined?

Every spring, our church has a congregational retreat at the NaCoMe conference center in Pleasantville, TN. While we were there last year, we experienced a flood that took out power to the complex and rapid water which covered the only bridge out. It was a bit of an inconvenience, but we made the best of it. We were told that it was the worst flooding the area has experienced in over 100 years. THIS year, exactly one year later, our retreat was yet again flooded. Some thought it best to leave early. Those who stayed ended up being stranded for three extra days. THIS time, the whole of Middle TN suffered a 500 year deluge of 15 inches of rain. My family and I left early to avoid being stranded by floodwaters. Little did we know that we were heading from the frying pan into the fire. We ended up being stranded in our own home as our road was covered in floodwaters on either side of our home. Thankfully, our home was spared. But thousands of Middle Tennesseans lost much, if not all, of their homes and possessions. We have been in shock and amazement ever since.

This was a plein-air painting of the creek flowing through NaCoMe. It was painted two years ago after the first great flood. It records how that gentle creek, where children love to wade and splash, became a swelling rapid, strong enough to take out bridges. Our retreat theme that year was on Wisdom in the book of Proverbs. I titled the painting “Wisdom”, though I did not fully know why. It just felt right. Now I know. It is the wisdom that comes from a shared experience with a group of people. Wisdom of how frail humanity is against the power of nature. Wisdom of respect in how rapidly nature can cause tragedy. Wisdom in witnessing God at work to heal brokenness. Wisdom in knowing God’s peace that calms all storms. Wisdom in seeing how loving and tough humans can be in the face of tragedy. All of this wisdom I now see flowing in the current of this painting.

After the devastating flood of water, came a beautiful flood of Grace. Neighbors and strangers poured into the area to help the afflicted. It is a wonderful thing to see. No one ever imagined this kind of flooding was possible here. And many never imagined the outpouring of love in response. Now, we are all a little wiser.

If you would like to help the victims of Middle Tennessee, you can go to this link.

www.nashvilleredcross.org

If you would like to know more about the NaCoMe conference center and how they have been affected by the flood, you can visit this link.

www.nacome.org