All Things New

As many of you know, I have a tattoo of a dove and olive branch. I got this during my first year of college, reasoning that I would never be anti-peace. But as I became more interested in issues of justice, I began to question the appropriateness of that particular symbol. We may recall that the dove was the bird that brought back plant life-- olive branch--to Noah in Genesis, thus indicating that God's flood which destroyed all of humanity except 8 people was over.  After thinking more about that destruction and vengeance I began to explain that my tattoo had come to remind me of the cost of peace, often at the expense of justice. How could a just and all-loving god condemn all but 8 people to death? Was there no redemption for them? But, and new and supposedly better world was being created, and it would never happen again (by flood), so there was peace.I was glad to have that reminder, but I must admit, a little saddened that my God had done that and that I must remember those--dare I say cruel--acts.
But, last night, I was at a Presbyterian service--of all the churches, right!?--and the pastor spoke on re-creation (not the running kind).  He argued that even creation was a re-creation because before God spoke there was the sea. And the sea was chaos incarnate. (Now, this is where is gets confusing between literal and metaphoircal interpretation.) I realized that while I decidedly do not take the creation stories literally, I had, to an extent, been taking the story of Noah and the Ark literally.
But what if we choose to believe in the flood as a flood of chaos, instead of literal water, and the death as a falling into chaos, instead of literal death? The Israelites, like the Presbyterians, were very concerned with order and without the order that God brings through constant recreation (which feels very chaotic) we drown in chaos.
**God, Please send us a booey of your new creation today that we might breathe in your spirit and find hope, joy, and love in this constantly churning and up-heaving world of chaos.