Dorian Gray and The Picture of Our Soul

As I reflected upon this Sunday’s readings for the Divine Liturgy (Ephesians 5:9-19; Luke 12:13-21), Oscar Wilde’s great novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray” kept coming into my mind. There are many parallels that come through when we look at the two stories side by side. This morning I would like to pull out a few points for us to think about and pray through in the week ahead.

In the novel, an artist name Basil paints this beautiful picture of a young, handsome, man named Dorian Gray. About the time that he finishes the painting a friend of the artist, Lord Henry, shows up and is intrigued not only by the painting but the beauty of Dorian himself. Lord Henry tells him that he needs to get everything out of life that he can get. Yes Dorian, Lord Henry says “Live life to its fullest, all for the self and nothing else.” He basically corrupts Dorian’s mind by convincing him that life is about his good looks and being completely self-indulgent at all times. Very similar to the man’s thinking in today’s parable who says, “What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So, he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.” (12:17-18) Yes like so many in the world today life is all about me, myself, and I. That’s it and that’s all!

Dorian is then saddened and upset with Basil because he has painted such a wonderful portrait of him and he will never look that good again. He will begin from that very moment to grow old and tired, but the picture will stay the same. Then comes the twist of the novel, Dorian exchanges his body and soul with the picture. The painting will age and show the marks of time, while Dorian will stay young and gorgeous. So, after a bit time, Dorian does something nasty to someone and he looks at the portrait and sees that the face has changed. It has a little different smile and a bit of a wicked smirk. Dorian does not like what he sees, and he hides the portrait away from himself and others. He then begins a corrupt and ungodly life like Saint Paul describes in Galatians, full of “immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like.” (5:19-21)

One day after living a long ageless life engulfed by sin, Dorian sees the portrait of himself. He sees the wickedness of his own soul. Instead of a beautiful young man looking back at him, like he sees daily in the mirror, he gazes upon a decerped old man. One that is heartless and full of evil and death. Dorian then so horrified by what he encounters, takes a knife and cuts the portrait. Destroying it and himself at the same time. He could not bear to see in vivid detail the person he had or had not become.

This story should teach us all a lesson. What if we could look upon a picture of our soul, would we like what we saw? Could we bear to see what might be before us? Would it be twisted and corrupt like that the picture of Dorian Gray, or would it be shining brightly like the image that God made us like? This is one challenge of being a Christian, looking at the life that we are living and asking, “God am I living life fully for myself and my desires, or am I living for you God and those around me. If not, Lord where do I need to improve? What do I need to change in my life?” This is a process that must begin with small steps. Go to confession, get your relationship with God back on track. Restore the image that God put into your heart at baptism. Are there problems at home in your marriage? Fix them next. Heal the relationships between husband and wife. Then heal any bad relationships between father or mother, with son or daughter. Ask the Lord himself, “Jesus send your divine grace and healing into my heart, allow me to be a vessel of healing and restoration.” Our lives must reflect what Saint Paul says today, “filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart.” (5:18-19) This means we must be in tune with God and one another. Our lives must be like a symphony with all the parts working together, not for our will and its desires, but in action for the will of God alone.

In this coming week, do not be afraid, ask the great question, “God am I in tune with you?” Think about the portrait of your soul. Would you like what was looking back at you? If not the get to work on fixing the problems. Make a plan of action and put that plan into operation. Let the true image of God shine through you, “For the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true and try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:9-10)

Bible Basics 101 – Thoughts on Noah and the Flood – Part #8

I have always been intrigued by the Flood and its place in Salvation History. Because nothing really changes after the Flood. Noah and his family are the same when they come out as when they went in the Ark. This is displayed by the fall of Noah soon after they make their exit from the Ark. Yes, God does make a new covenant with him and the entire creation, but basically, we are where we started at in Genesis 6. There is just a lot fewer people and creatures around. Then again, what is at the heart of this story? Is it not two-fold? First, that it demonstrates that one day God himself will have to take our flesh upon himself to truly change man and the world. This change cannot be achieved from outside forces like the weather but must come from the inside out. It must come from the very hand of the God who made the world. Second, this story amplifies the problem of Evil that God will have to one day conquer. It demonstrates for us that sin and death have spread to all the four corners of God’s “very good” creation and is now in complete control of man’s heart. This story leads us further down the spiral of the world that reaches its climax in the event at the Tower of Babel. Then with God in Genesis 12 finally choosing Abraham and his family to be the place where the world would, at last, be put right, restored, redeemed and recreated.

Instead of talking about the whole story in order with all its parts, I am going to just pull out the key themes or elements and take a closer look at these. I think most people know the overall story of the Flood, so we will only highlight the parts that tie into our basic study of the Bible and how its many parts connect and overlap.

Noah

Genesis 6:9-10 “These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.”

With these two verses, we are introduced to the man Noah. By the scripture saying that “these are generations” we should recognize that a new movement or movement in Salvation History is about to happen. Sort of how Matthew starts his Gospel with a genealogy for Jesus, we also get a short one here for Noah. So, we should pay special attention to what follows next. Here Noah is in great contrast to the way Geneses has just described the other people living at his time, “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.” (Genesis 6:5-6) But then we are immediately told, “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.” (Genesis 6:8) So it is because of this blameless man Noah and his walking with God in righteous that the story of creation continues. Otherwise, God might have just blotted out the whole world right then and said enough is enough. But thankfully that is not what the God of mercy and compassion did. As we well know, he is always faithful to his creation. Just as St. John reminds us, “Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” (John 13:1)

Genesis 6:11-14 “Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood.”

Violence and corruption take center stage at this point. Both of these are further illustrations of the problem of idolatry that we saw with the Fall of Adam and Eve. Genesis is making it clear through this passage that Adam’s sin and the entrance of death into the world have affected all people not just a few. God has indeed made the choice to destroy the flesh upon the earth. But even more highlighted in the story of Noah, is that God through all this chaos has not given up his people or creation. The ark is a way forward for man and the world.  

The Ark

Genesis 6:14-19 “Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. 15 This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. 16 Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. 17 For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 19 And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female.”

The ark is immense at 450 feet long there is no question about that. There are lots of people who have spent much time studying the ark how it might have been constructed and equipped to survive its long float above the waters. Those types of studies can be interesting and fun to read. But what really jumps out to me is the use of the word “life” in this passage. God is going to destroy all life, then we find that all life is rescued from the waters in the ark. The ark becomes the place of “life”. Life as in communion with the living God. Very much revealing the Church that is to appear later in this long unfolding story. The place where we truly enter into “life” and leave behind the vast sea of troubled waters that can otherwise engulf and overwhelm us.

Forty Day and Nights

Genesis 7:19 “For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.”

The important Biblical number forty makes its appearance here. This ties the story of the Flood with other major events in the Bible. Moses was on the mountain for forty days and nights when he received the Law from the Lord. Israel spent forty years in the desert before entering the Promised Land. Jesus spends forty days in the desert praying and fasting before beginning his public ministry. The Church gives us the forty days of Lent to prepare ourselves to celebrate our Lord’s Resurrection from the dead. This should remind us all that nothing in the Bible or our life in the Church is unrelated or unconnected. Everything we do has a certain past and an important future; therefore, we must learn about both and how they tie together. Only then shall we know where we are going in the present time.

The Waters

Genesis 7:18-24 “The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. 19 And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. 20 The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep. 21 And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. 22 Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. 23 He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. 24 And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days.”

The “waters” in this story have two functions to play. They are at one time the destroyer, taking away all the living things that are upon the face of the ground. But then again, it is also the water, through the floating of the ark, that also gives life. Just like each of us at baptism, which the entire Flood Story points too. We enter into the water with Christ and his death, but then we all brought up out of the water to new life in Christ through his Resurrection. As St. Paul says in Romans “Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.” (6:8)

The Mountain

Genesis 8:1-5 “But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. 2 The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, 3 and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of 150 days the waters had abated, 4 and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5 And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.”

We are told that the ark came to rest on a mountain, why is this important? What is so special about mountains? Here again, we have many stories and themes of the Bible that are connected by certain places or events. The Garden of Eden was said to be upon a mountain. Abraham was faithful to God when he was willing to offer his son Isaac upon a mountain. Moses received the two tablets of the Ten Commandments from the very hand of the Lord upon a mountain. Jesus was transfigured upon a mountain. He also ascended from a mountain. In other words, “mountains” in the scriptures are locations where man and God meet, the place where we encounter the divine. Noah has been saved by God from the flood waters, God “remembered” Noah and now he is going to make a new covenant with Noah and his family. He will build an altar to God and have communion with him while upon the mountain. The problem is what happens when Noah, as well as us, comes down from the mountain. Do we carry God’s presence with us or do we do our own thing?

The New Covenant with Noah

Genesis 9:1-7 “And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 2 The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. 3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. 4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5 And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. 6 “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image. 7 And you, be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.”

We are now taken back to the time of creation when God made man and told him, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:28) This is when God established man as his partner and coworker in his world. But by looking at this passage and the new covenant with Noah, we must ask what has changed and why? The clearest thing for us to see in that now creatures are to “fear” man and have “dread” for him. Why is this? It is because of the fracture of man’s relationship with the world. See God made man with a purpose and vocation to do certain things in the world, like “tilling” the Garden. But because of sin and death, that relationship is broken. Animals who were named by Adam, a very sign of communion, are now fearful of the hand and actions of man. We also see the effects with lawlessness and murder that sin takes advantage of and causes to grow to its full flower. Therefore, God must condemn the shedding of blood, for that is where the life is found. Again, we must keep in mind that this is all a breakdown and perversion of the relationships that God made with man at the beginning, and further proof that our “Foundational Relationships” must be reestablished by God himself. (See Part’s 3 & 4 for further explanation of these relationships)

The Sign of the Rainbow

Genesis 9:8-17 “Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9 “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13 I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17 God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

God makes it very clear that man, creatures, and the world itself are part of this new covenant that he is making. He promises that he will never again destroy the earth by water. The Rainbow then becomes the great sign of God’s love for his people and the world he has made. It’s a sign that God will not leave us hanging to die and dwell in sin forever. No, he has a plan for rescue, redemption, and restoration. His plan is not only for man but for the whole cosmos as well. We see this in Romans “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” (8:18-23)

Summary

The Flood shows us in dramatic detail that sin and death have broken Man’s relationships with God, one another, and the world. We realize this even further by the “fall” of Noah which comes right after the Flood and the making of the new covenant. As we have said all along, the transformation will have to come from the very heart of man, not from an outside power. Only then will our “Foundational Relationships” be put back on track and at last humanity can flourish as God intended it to.