Myths and Stories - January 21

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 38; PM Psalm 119:25-48; Gen. 9:18-29; Heb. 6:1-12; John 3:22-36

I want to write again from the Hebrew Scriptures, as I did last week. This week’s reading comes from a strange and unsettling part of the Noah story—what happens after the waters of the flood have withdrawn. I want to share one way of hearing this passage that feels especially relevant today.

Noah’s sons are Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Imagine these stories being passed down from generation to generation for hundreds of years, maybe longer—told around campfires, by rivers, wherever people gathered. And remember that the Israelites and the Canaanites did not get along. They fought over land. The Israelites believed the Canaanites inhabited land that was rightfully theirs. So when this story is told about Ham, the father of Canaan, seeing the nakedness of his father—which may mean far more than we are comfortable naming—it may function as a way of justifying how the Israelites felt about the Canaanites.

We do this too. We tell stories about those we have been taught to fear or hate in order to justify the narratives we’ve inherited. You can scroll for less than thirty seconds on social media and see this dynamic playing out. We construct myths about people to excuse our contempt for them. And of course, it’s possible that our stories contain some element of truth. It’s also almost always true that there is more to the story.

We often tell the Noah story as one about God’s promise—to love the world and never again respond with destruction—and that is true. But the question that lingers is why we struggle to extend that same restraint, mercy, and grace to one another. Maybe it’s because we are not God. And maybe that is precisely what is worth remembering so that we can turn to God for help, trust, and guidance in this life and in the life to come.

John+

Questions for Self-Reflection: What stories about others have you believed that you are beginning to question?  How can you turn to God for trust and guidance in your life?