Genesis 8
The Raven and the Dove
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Then Noah sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the earth.
But the dove could find nowhere to perch because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark.
He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark.
He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark.
When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf!
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First Noah sent out a raven.
Good choice.
The raven is an intelligent bird--a sly bird--sometimes a trickster.
Tricksters can be very good or very bad.
They are tricky like that.
But Raven brought no good news.
Then Noah sent out a dove.
Doves can be dumb as a hammer.
But they are gentle messengers of peace.
The dove brought an olive branch--a sign of life and hope.
Turn on the news and you will hear from lots of ravens.
They are smart. Clever. And tricky.
Their calls are raucous and persistent.
But they bring no signs of hope.
In this storm there are signs of life and hope.
The message of the dove may be drowned out by the calls of the raven.
But you listen to the dove.
Look for signs of life and hope.
The clever, sly, noisy ones will not offer that.
Today, look for the dove.
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O Lord, it is hard to see signs of life in the midst of this storm.
All the clever people are shouting doom and despair.
To be honest, Lord, it sometimes seems dumb to trust the voice of a dove.
My heart yearns for the message of the dove, but it hears the voice of the raven.
Lord, today, let me find signs of life.
And if they cannot be found, give me faith to look again.
For you will never forget us.
There will soon be signs of life and hope.
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