Somewhere over the rainbow

Rainbow is something that fascinates people, young and old. It appears to us when sunlight reflects in raindrops. It never stays long, and usually we see only a part of it. Sounds pretty,
yet we know not to stare at it. Let us understand the reasons behind it and try to learn a few things along the way.

Last time we left Noah and his family working hard as they had to look after all the animals in the ark. There was no way for them to know what was happening outside, except that they would hear rain going on for 40 days and nights. The work was hard and repetitive. Patience was required to ensure that it was done properly day in and day out. There are some discussions on the matter, like if all the animals needed to be fed each day or if there was a specific feeding time depending on how animals survived prior to the flood. For example, in the wild, lions will usually eat every 3 days, while pandas eat at least 10 hours each day.

This is a time to stop and reflect on the story so far. The place where we see a lot of different animals together is the zoo. We can observe animals of prey as well as herds of zebras, monkeys and elephants, giraffe and hippo, and so much more. As we are passing through the gates, we receive a timetable of events. This allows us to enjoy our experience and see if we can fit a few extra things, like feeding times and zookeeper talks. Different people will organise their time according to their preferences.

The ark was not a zoo, and Noah, with his sons, was not a zookeeper (remember, Noah was building the ark for the last 120 years). Imagine the sensitivity and patience towards animals and their needs displayed, as people without prior experience were able to do the job perfectly. Most likely, Noah and his family could not see the sun during the rain; however, they were still able to understand the time. Previously, we learnt that Noah walked with the Almighty, and he received the exact instructions on building the ark as part of the communication. Therefore, it is not too far to expect that some communication with the Divine was still available to Noah. Literally Divine inspiration.

Going back to the story. After 40 full days of water coming from everywhere, it stopped. What feelings would you expect to experience from it? Was it a relief to survive the ordeal? If so, imagine not being able to step off the ark for nearly a year afterwards. Will we become melancholic, or will we be able to continue with the harsh, laborious job of looking after the animals? At this point, we understand that doing the harsh, unpopular work of building the ark for 120 years was not just a test, but rather a character-building exercise. Like any other Bible story, the more we learn and reflect, the more we connect and understand stories. Above all, we welcome all the newly acquired knowledge, which will only lead to asking more questions. This is the sweet, delicious taste of learning the Bible.

Now the ark is floating, and the dry land is nowhere to be seen for days. For the first 150 days, the water stayed at the same level, and only afterwards did it start to subside. The year is 1657 from creation. We will delve into the significance of years and correspondence between events in our later discussions.

So let us summarise the events discussed here. We can see a clear example of something rather phenomenal – Noah and his family were ready to do things before they could hear the reasons behind it. They were ready, but not keen. This is very important to see, as we will return to this knowledge at a later date.

We grew up with the idea that a dove and an olive branch are symbolic of peace. This is nice and cosy, however, it is not exactly correct. The dove with the olive branch is a symbol of
subsiding waters, and Noah is trying to test if there is enough dry land for all the inhabitants of the ark to disembark. We will discuss the choices made to ensure things, their merits and
failures.

Only once Noah is out of the ark, he sees the rainbow. Rainbow is becoming a covenant with the Almighty, promising Noah not to repeat the events of cleansing all the world. It is
becoming an encouragement to enter the next stage of co-creating this world. Noah’s offers to the Creator are just an acknowledgement of the Divine power. So now we are somewhere
over the rainbow in a world that we would not recognise. Let’s continue to learn together.