My Dove

___________________________________

Read: Gn 8:6-13, 20-22

We have this massive deluge of water upon the earth. And Noah sends out a dove. This brings to mind from Genesis one, “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.” Life can feel pretty empty at times. Just an empty blackness and without form and it is precisely at this moment that we must trust that the Spirit of God is moving over the waters stirring our hearts from His eternal Being and still working and present no matter how hectic the waves might be. At times He blows a tempest and we are left dumbstruck and on our knees. But it is here we can find Him. Life can be pretty hard and cruel. Two things must be kept in mind: 1)God does not intend your ill He intends for you to trust Him to bring good out of a bad situation, 2)Bad things happen but God will give you the grace to remove yourself from the damage caused. He will also bring you out of greater danger and safeguard you.

This brings out a further beauty from this current text. First Noah sends out a raven. This could be a symbol of the dark restless soul without grace seeking a resting place going to and fro until the waters dried up. His resources are not well utilized, all but in vain and he runs himself ragged and tired. But then Noah sends out a dove. A dove symbolizes not only the Spirit of God but it can also just symbolize a holy clean soul who is striving to find a home. Two things happen. One There is still an immensity of water. Danger comes either physically or mentally especially when the soul cannot find rest even if seeking and cannot and soon would tire. Yet what happens? So he put forth his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. God brings the soul into His dwelling. He puts out His hand and takes us into shelter. What kindness and compassion! God can be found even in the darkest of circumstances. He has the ark to protect and safeguard. I cannot stress enough that in the difficulties of life, a sliver of God’s presence can be found. We just have to let God grab us and let Him pull our restless selves into His heart. Until we do there will be no peace.

The second thing is that a Dove will return to the place of whence she came if she cannot find a place to alight her feet and make a home. She comes back. If you have been away, trust that God’s hand is there for you. Even though you have been wondering, there is that part of your heart looking for somewhere to lay to rest. It is an innate desire in you. Don’t fight it like the Raven but return to the Ark to be restored and rejuvenated.

Read: Mark 8:22-26

Here is the amazing thing about this cure. The blindness of the man in this story can be related to spiritual lostness—a sense of not knowing direction—of the heart. Perhaps even a state of not seeing in the heart. Yet what does God do? And he led him out of the village. It is God leading you out of the world into the place He has for you. It is a new place. God touches us physically with his spit and his hand. He moves. A change occurs. At first we may not distinctly see—in a sort of hazy way—yet we must trust that God has a purpose. We see and yet we do not. It is then that Jesus looks intently to heaven and touches us again and vision returns in the most sharpest of ways. Yet here is the most important thing. Once we have arrived at this place of healing of vision of our outlook we must listen to the command of Jesus, “Do not even enter the village.” Do not go back to the world. Do not even go back to the old pattern of behaviors. Yes there is going to be times of failure out of weakness, but do not seek it out. Steer clear. A lot of the battle can quickly be won if we choose to live in the state God gives us—whether it is suffering or consolation or if it is new breath and energy—yes we must close the door to those dangerous places of the past and live in the present now.

A good test of this is to pay attention to the amount of time spent on technology. Does it rule our entire day? The empty hours of Facebook or surfing the Web or Netflix or Television and the phone buzzing. Step out of this place. You control the setting. It does and cannot control you. If it does there is something you are missing, a certain place that God wants to find you. If you can’t do cold turkey I recommend zones of no technology time. (Mealtimes, after school, the evening, car drives etc.) Wednesday and Fridays are a good day to abstain from any usage and instead fill it with reading or walking or writing/journaling or time with friends. But I challenge you to more of this for six days of the week. Cut it out for a time period of say 90 days and really seek true connection with God and with others. (Exception: news and a little time on Sundays) Study His ways in creation. Study Him in His creatures. Study Him in others and in good literature and music. See what happens. Seek the old place of Christian culture and enter God’s dwelling place and leave the superciliousness and superficiality of the false sense of connection for the reality. Get off your duff and do something. Technology does and can have its value but must be most strictly guarded and navigated by God’s lenses and should not shape reality. We shape it. We can only have freedom when we have found mastery.