Where is God in the flood?

30 September 2009

There are different and various interpretations of an event, especially if such an event leaves death and destruction. Let’s say that this event is called calamity – and to be more specific, flood. The most famous ancient account of a flood is the primeval story in Genesis 6-8 that spared only Noah and his family. Judging from the point of view of a people who strongly believed that they’re chosen – and that they had the sense that righteousness equals faith in an unknown God and obedience to the command of such a God – the flood was interpreted as judgment (Gen 6:13). God saw the wickedness of the people on earth – full of corruption and violence – but he found Noah as the only righteous and blameless man (6:5-8, 9-13).

Because the whole earth was full of corruption and violence God felt sorry and he had to cleanse it, and the only way to purge the earth, in his mind, was to send an excessive amount of rain (7:4). And indeed the windows of heaven were opened and it rained for forty days and forty nights (7:12). The whole known earth was flooded for forty days and forty nights with only Noah, his family, and a few pairs of animals survived. Noah was saved because he “found favor in the eyes of the Lord” (6:8). And he listened and obeyed the command of God to make an ark where they could stay during the flood (6:14-22) where God “blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground” (7:23). When the flood was over, God established a covenant with Noah not to destroy the earth again with flood waters (8:20-22): “Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.”

The biblical account of a flood is a classic interpretation of a natural calamity viewed from a highly religious perspective, or let’s say from a theological point of view where faith in a righteous God is at stake. People of faith cannot abandon the thought that God is up there watching over the affairs of the people on earth and when he’s not pleased he would send judgment sparing only a few righteous individuals. Surely we cannot condemn the current victims of the flood caused by the tropical storm Ketsana that hit the country in 26 September as wicked sinners and recipient of God’s wrath – rather they are victims of a calamity, and they suffered more because of the unpreparedness of the government when it comes to disaster management.

There had been several writers and columnists who wrote about the climate change, about who’s to blame in the flood, and who’s to be defended. Many scientists and ‘quasi scientists’ said that climate change is to be blamed, and if the unpredictability of the weather is due to climate change then it’s everybody’s toll, it’s a call for us to care for our environment. Many critics hammered the government for its unpreparedness in disaster management and inefficiency in distribution of relief goods. Many of the flood victims who are coming from the middle class got angry against the government because of its inability to respond quickly. There are also many thinkers and theologians who reflect on where is God in the flood. But in the eyes of a child, rain is simply fun, and it’s time for him to swim in the flood waters of the metropolis.

Seriously, for the one who cannot divorce faith from daily experiences, God is seen to be working in mysterious ways. God may want us to learn a lesson or two about disaster preparedness and efficiency in governance. For those who reflect on theological justification of the flood, well, we could ask God why it all happened and how could a good God allow such a miserable situation. We could lament at the fact that people perish – both rich and poor. Everybody is affected Christians and non-Christians, religious and non-religious, faithful and unfaithful (I mean faithless) alike. Or maybe instead purely a cognitive understanding of the situation God challenges us to action – to prove our faith by action just as James famously coined, “Faith without action is dead.”

Flood victims need our help. They need comfort. They need our prayers. They need us most in these moments when they feel they’re helpless and vulnerable. Let’s look at the scenario as an opportunity for us to extend our helping hands. We could challenge God later, but as of the moment, the situation needs action. Flood has not subsided yet in many flooded areas. Marikina is still covered with mud. There is a coming storm. The Department of Health fears of a disease outbreak. People in evacuation centers lack food, drinking water, medicines, clothes, pillows, blankets, mosquito nets and other things that they basically need. God is there in the sigh of the helpless and vulnerable. God is there when our fellow human beings desperately need our help. God is there in the midst of the people’s suffering. God suffers with those who suffer. God does not abandon the weak. God cannot afford that people perish because of human neglect.