Noah
What is the gift of balance?
Reflection by Laura Thien:
"After complete destruction of the world and the flood drying up, God provides a rainbow as a symbol of a promise that this will never happen again. God then says this,
'זֶ֡רַע וְ֠קָצִ֠יר וְקֹ֨ר וָחֹ֜ם וְקַ֧יִץ וָחֹ֛רֶף וְי֥וֹם וָלַ֖יְלָה לֹ֥א יִשְׁבֹּֽתוּ׃'
Seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.
(Bereshit 8:22)
At first glance this may seem like God is saying that as long as the earth is alive, there will no longer be destruction like the flood. However, Sforno and many other commentators understand it differently. Sforno comments on this line saying, `nature will not cease to function dependably as it had been prior to the flood. The sun will orbit predictably, its orbit will be subject to calculation in advance, so will be its position relative to other phenomena in the sky. `
Before the flood the sun functioned differently, some areas only had cold and no sun and others had constant sun.
Perhaps this unpredictable state contributed to the corruption that caused the destruction. The earth needs cycles. Humans need cycles. We need to learn from nature that there are times of cold and warm, times of light and dark, and productive times as well as rest times. If this balance was not felt then perhaps that is what ruined the earth. God recognized this and promised to not destroy the world again and also set up a system to prevent it from returning to a point of needing to be destroyed.
We all need balance in our life to keep from falling into destruction. At times it may feel like darkness is taking over. Can we remember this promise of natural balance and find some light to connect with? Perhaps the sun sparkling on dew, the light of a smile, the light of learning? Can we breathe into ceasing from productivity and take that time to appreciate what has grown within and around us instead of always striving for more? The rainbow shows us its seven colors, from longest to shortest wavelengths and most and least refractions, reminding us that we have been blessed with balance in order to survive. May we open to all that is present and remind ourselves that this balance is a gift."