Noah's Ark

Last night, I was using the bathroom in the middle of the night and looking at Brooklyn's bath toys. She has a few rubber ducks, a "Hello Kitty" toy, a bath book, and a Noah's Ark toy, complete with Noah, his wife, and some animals. I am frequently reminded of a part in Donald Miller's book Blue Like Jazz, whenever I look at the Noah's Ark boat. He says it best, so I will just quote him:

"I associated much of Christian doctrine with children's stories because I grew up in church. My Sunday school teachers had turned Bible narrative into children's fables. They talked about Noah and the ark because the story had animals in it. They failed to mention that this was when God massacred all of humanity.

It took me a while to realize that these stories, while often used with children, are not at all children's stories. I think the devil has tricked us into thinking so much of biblical theology is [a] story fit for kids. How did we come to think that the story of Noah's ark is appropriate for children? Can you imagine a children's book about Noah's ark complete with paintings of people gasping in gallons of water, mothers grasping their children while their bodies go flying down white-rapid rivers, the children's tiny heads being bashed against rocks or hung up in fallen trees? I don't think a children's book like that would sell many copies."
(Blue Like Jazz, by Donald Miller, pages 30-31)

When I give Brooklyn her baths and she plays with the ark, I often think in the back of my mind, "This toy must be incomplete... where are all the drowning people?" She has a rocking chair at my parent's house that has a painting of Noah, his family, and the animals on it... I think the same thing when I see that...

It is interesting to think about who was the first person to think that this was a good story to teach kids about and think of it as cute... why not make some children's books about the Colosseum when people were thrown to the lions... after all, it would have some adorable little kitties in it?!