<p><em>Photo Credit: Nick Sellway</em></p><p>Too often Christians approach Lent as just another in a long list of things we are supposed to do. Todays reflection however encourages us to see Lent as an invitation to deeper participation in the Reign of God: a reality not defined by long lists of life-choking demands but rather by transcendent moments of life-changing beauty.</p><p><strong>February 18 2024: First Sunday in Lent Year B</strong></p><p>Genesis 9.8-15</p><p>Psalm 25. 4-5 6-7 8-9</p><p>1 Peter 3.18-22</p><p>Mark 1.12-15</p><div><div class=titan__email-divider data-color=#282968 data-thicknessnum=2 data-dividerstyle=solid data-topnum=12 data-bottomnum=12 data-height=1 data-lineheight=1>&nbsp;</div></div><h3>Of Rainbows Moonbows and Flood Myths: And the Reign of God Visible Even in Darkness</h3><p><em>A reflection by Jon Schum</em></p><p>The narrative of Noah and his family is part of the primeval history of Genesis i.e. pre-Sarah and Abraham. The image of the flood and its ensuing chaos was likely borrowed from <a href=https://dignityusa.app.neoncrm.com/track//servlet/DisplayLink?orgId=dignityusa&amp;&amp;&amp;linkId=75311&amp;targetUrl=https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/flod/hd_flod.htm>Mesopotamian literature</a>. Ancient Near Eastern cultures maintained accounts of a major flood perhaps even an actual deluge. The biblical account is a story of deliverance. God forges a covenant not only with eight survivors of the flood but with all creation represented in all the creatures gathered in the safety of the Ark.</p><p>After forty days as the waters subside the rainbow appears in the sky to confirm Gods presence and promise. The rainbow is a natural sign that no matter how severe a rainstorm it is coming to an end and will not result in a worldwide flood. To the Noachian community and to all humanity God is not to be seen as merely punitive but a covenant partner. This is a momentous step forward for the people of God. To seal the covenant God sets the rainbow in the cloud. The storm passes and light returns: radiant divine light.</p><p>Todays second reading from the First Letter of Peter draws a comparison between the waters of the flood and the saving waters of baptism. Just as those on the ark endured the flood leading to the new creation so Christians pass through the waters of baptism not merely as a cleansing but to arrive at a clear conscience i.e. a spiritual and moral transformation.</p><p>The baptism of Jesus in the Jordan appears to be just such a transformative moment. Jesus grappled with the meaning of his baptism during forty days in the desert wilderness. The desert was barren and empty with merciless hot days and cold foreboding nights. Wild creatures and robbers roamed. This is not Palm Springs; it is Death Valley. Yet it is where Jesus comes to terms with Gods call and wrestles with his own demons. He emerged from this trial to boldly proclaim The reign of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel!</p><p>If you grew up as I did you never heard much of the reign of God in religion class. I do recall hearing a lot about repent. Yet the reign of God is foundational to the teaching and witness of Jesus as he inaugurates his ministry. God breaks into human history in a totally new and revolutionary way. Everything that follows in the gospel rests on and flows from this proclamation. Miracles. Parables. The Sermon on the Mount. Welcoming the poor. Unsavory dinner companions. The journey to Jerusalem. Calvary. The empty tomb. Pentecost. (Side note: the retrieval of Jesus vision of the reign of God is a major accomplishment of twentieth century biblical theology).</p><p>The season of Lent is our opportunity to accompany Jesus into the wilderness. We <em>fast</em> because we are not just the sum of our appetites and our obsessions. Lent calls us away from distractions and wasteful habits that accompany abundance. We are more mindful of <em>almsgiving. </em>Those little mite boxes we used to fill with loose change remind us that it is a hungry hurting world. And we <em>pray</em>. We engage in that inner conversation with the Divine to seek those places in our lives in need of conversion.</p><p>We enter the Lenten wilderness with a degree of freedom to sort out our choices to seek Gods wisdom and grace to prepare for Easter rebirth. But we also know wilderness experiences we do not choose. Like Jesus we may wrestle with our own demons struggle with loss navigate those dark nights of the soul and seek our true and best self as we encounter lifes dilemmas.</p><p>The international LGBTQIA+ community and its allies know the wilderness experience although we have not gone there willingly. We have been sent there through scapegoating and homo/trans phobias denial of our human rights and threats of violence and death. These realities have left members of our community fearful and isolated. Yet in our solidarity the wilderness has a way of transforming and even empowering us. In the struggle for justice and equity we learn to see and affirm our full membership in the reign of God and our rightful place as equals in the human family.</p><p>Its no wonder we have such a kinship with the rainbow. We see it with eyes of wonder and we wear it as an emblem of Gods wide and full embrace. We revere it as a symbol of hope and possibility. We wear it with prideglad and grateful to be created in the image of an outrageously imaginative and all-loving God.</p><p>One night several years ago Ron and I were driving back to his family home on the Big Island of Hawaii. The drive took us through a large expanse of the Kau desert mountains to our right ocean on the left. Its not the Sahara but its an arid unpopulated expanse of volcanic rock and scrub vegetation. Precipitation here is scarce but droplets of rain were falling and a brilliant moon filled the sky its light reflected on the ocean. Seemingly from nowhere we were astounded to see the arc of a rainbow staring at us a rare nighttime phenomenon we later learned is called a <a href=https://dignityusa.app.neoncrm.com/track//servlet/DisplayLink?orgId=dignityusa&amp;&amp;&amp;linkId=75321&amp;targetUrl=https://weather.com/science/weather-explainers/news/science-behind-lunar-rainbow-moonbow>moonbow</a>. Its colors were muted but distinct. Wow! was an understatement. For even in the dark of night the rainbow glowed in the desert sky watching us as we traveled homeward. It was an amazing celestial wonderand it was a reminder of Gods faithful and enduring companionship right there in the darkness of the desert night.</p><p></p><div><div class=titan__email-divider data-color=#282968 data-thicknessnum=2 data-dividerstyle=solid data-topnum=12 data-bottomnum=12 data-height=1 data-lineheight=1>&nbsp;<img src='https://www.dignityusa.org/sites/default/files/botsjonschum_1.png'></div></div><div class=mobile-full><div class=mobile-full><em><strong>Jon Schum</strong>&nbsp;and his husband Ron Lacro are longtime Dignity Boston members. Jon has served on its board and liturgy committee and is one of the chapter's ordained presiders. For many years he supervised and provided arts-based therapeutic programming for an elder services agency in Boston. He is currently a co-facilitator of the Aging with Dignity caucus and board member at DignityUSA.&nbsp;</em></div></div>