Article May 14, 2007 Issue

FLOODED BY NOAH

BY SARAH BROKENSHA

As a child, I didn't really get much out of the Bible story of Noah and the flood. Sometimes I thought about the animals that boarded the ark, chose my favorites, and tried to imagine what it would be like to sail off in torrential rains, watching home and familiar countryside disappear under water. But Noah's experience remained remote from family life in the city. The only boats we sailed were dinghies on a nearby dam.

Also, Noah's stormy passage from his village to the peak of Mount Ararat wasn't a happy scenario—in fact, quite scary—which is probably why I wasn't keen to even think about the lessons it might hold for me.

Fast forward several years, to a new home filled with three children of my own, and an unexpected and much closer encounter with Noah. He sailed right into our living room, with his ark many of his animals, it seemed. Our lives were flooded for a whole school term—with all-consuming commitments.