A String on God’s Pinky

Genesis 8:1-9:17

The grand story of the flood reminds us that God has made a covenant with all of us. All of us humans and all the animals on the earth, as well: “8Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9 “As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, 10and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark.”

I was reminded in this scripture of life on the ark, of how the family of Noah trusted God for the journey, and how, in the end, God fulfilled a promise of hope to all the animals. We are meant to be a gathering of humans in the midst of the wider gathering of all creation. This is hard to remember.

Yesterday was the first day of the second semester at UNO. We had a difficult assignment—to make friends with all the students as they trudged through the Plaza. Oxygen was playing, free food was available and the intense heat made us grateful for the breeze. Not all students were particularly thinking about God at this moment in their lives. Most were interested in cell phone conversations and relationship building. The last class was a fleeting moment ago. Now it was time for something fresh. A new beginning.

Steven Bouma-Prediger says it this way:

Many read this story as a story about the covenant with Noah, but like a steady drumbeat, eetigh times in ten verses (9:8-17) Sctiputre tells us that God’s covenant is with more than humans. Iondeed, it is with the Earth itself. We tend top think that God is intereted only in us humans, but this covant with creation tells us otherwise. And while we think the rainbow is for us00to remind us of God’s mercy—the text tells us that the rainbow serves as a reminder primarily to God. As Frederick Buechner puts it, “the rainbow is like a string tied around God’s pinky, lest God forget his everlasting covenant. God see the rainbow and remembers his covenant with creation.

Enjoy today’s renewed creation, and tie something on your pinky to help you remember!

--Fred