Acting Out
Stories of your childhood might include misadventures and outbursts. Every child acts up or acts out. Learning to respond to life’s challenges fosters our maturity. Frustration, anger, or disbelief will rile us our entire lives. Mature adults learn to control their impetuous or immature reactions. The Torah teaches us to live with maturity, repair, and morality.
The narrative of Genesis presents a complex view of God, revealing a Creator infused with childlike wonder and reactivity. God created the world and declared, “This is good.” Yet, as soon as there is a misadventure, God metes out justice. Because Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s rules, God banished them from paradise.
For a while, God seems pleased enough. Upon observing rampant corruption, God upended the gameboard, sparing Noah, his family, and animal representatives. In restoring order to the world, God set a rainbow in the sky, as a promise never to destroy the earth again.
Examining these stories, I first found a God created in the image of humans. God ventured on a journey of growth, models the maturing process for us. Yet, that is a simple and pediatric view of God framed by human impetuosity. The mature observer sees design behind a seemingly impulsive source of Creation.
Consider the expulsion from Eden: without it, humanity as we know it might not exist. This event triggered a series of transformations that populated the world.
But what of a God who destroys life, sparing only a select few? If viewed merely as a myth, this story might serve as a cautionary tale about the consequences of corrupt behavior. Alternatively, a dogmatic interpretation could portray a harsh, omnipotent Creator to be feared. Yet the flood narrative offers an instructive, profound theology of mistakes and redemption.
I do not adhere to a literal understanding of the flood; instead, I am drawn to the deeper meaning of moral and emotional evolution. The flood story reminds us that corruption is deserving of consequences. But the Judge, should mete out appropriate punishment. Even the Judge can reconsider the impact of a ruling. God did it.
We can commit to personal growth, cultivate morality, and repair damage we caused, even if in the name of justice or righteousness. That is why God models flawed behavior, not perfect behavior, so that we can know that to emulate God is to be on a path of growth and maturity.
With every storm, there is the promise of a rainbow, symbolizing hope for the future born of the possibility that, like God, we can improve.
Rabbi Evan J. Krame