Everybody has that one story heard in childhood that continues to inform, to shape, or haunt them in adulthood. Haunt, you ask? Let me explain. The stories I most recall are the ones which didn't make sense to me. Take the story of Noah, for example.
Noah, I was told, was 500 years old with a wife and three sons who also had wives. I guess back then people lived longer before the advent of pre-packaged or fast food since people today are considered long-lived if they make it to 90, but I digress. This family of 8 not only built the ark, came up with all the timber and other supplies required, and in their spare time gathered male and female pairs of every kind of animal on earth, AND got them all loaded into the boat before the Great Flood hit. As a child I was supposed to accept this story in every detail. Never did. Still don't. Still think about it though and I've come to a sort of understanding I can grasp.
What if the story of Noah isn't about boat building or wildlife preservation? What if the story of Noah is a story about how to flourish in the world? What if the story is about how we think? What if it's a story about how our thinking shapes how we act? Consider this.
Noah is presented with an idea. At first thought, Noah thinks its a crazy idea. What if everything he has acquired in his 500 years on earth; everyone he loves, was suddenly washed away? The notion of the world coming to an end is insane, right? Yet, the more he pondered it, the less crazy and more probable the idea became. The next logical thought was 'Can I stop it?' No. 'Can I prepare for it?' How?
He weighed several options and decided the best one was to build a huge boat. He lived in Mesopotamia and had witnessed the flooding of the Nile. The possibility of a tremendous flood seemed like a real possibility. He decided to build a boat. Even if the flood wasn't as bad as he imagined, his family would have a safer home than they had now. He called a family meeting to announce his plans and they all set to work.
The neighbors made jokes about Noah's project. They said the old man had finally lost it. No one offered to help. No one thought maybe they should model their behavior on what Noah and his family were doing. They believed the earth was too big to flood.
Well, everybody knows what happened when it began to rain.
Our lesson from the story of Noah is to think outside the box. Let our thoughts go outside of everything we know into the realm of what is possible and then to follow-up with appropriate action.
The news headlines today are filled with the ups and downs of the world's stock markets; with bank failures, currency devaluation, and negative interest rates. In other words, it's beginning to rain.
Some people say it's just a phase that will correct itself. Some people see some of the same storm clouds gathering on the horizon they saw in 2007 and 2008, but they procrastinate. The Noah's out there are acquiring gold and trying to help other people to do the same. Even if those storm clouds dissipate, which the everyone in the know says isn't likely to happen, it can't hurt to own something solid with solid value and worldwide appeal.
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