Noah’s Ark as Metaphor — Turning the Tides of Trouble
“The story of Noah and the Ark is a perfect diagram of the technique for handling a large problem. A flood of water is representative of our daily life with our fears, our problems, our difficulties. When the great deluge is upon you — when you do not know where to turn, that is the time you must get into the ‘Ark’. That is what Noah did.
We build an ‘Ark’, a mental sanctuary, a quiet state of mind, by prayer. We build what we call a state of consciousness. In that consciousness, fear will have little power so long as we remain in the ‘Ark’.
A remarkable thing about this Ark that Noah built — there was only one window in it… Theonly window was up under the rook high as it could be put. Why was the window there? It was constructed in this way so that Noah and those with him in the Ark would be obligated to look up at the sky. Up! That was the only way they could look out. In this way they could not look around at the flood and fill themselves with more fear.” Emmet Fox — Diagram for Living
Here is a graphic reminder to look for the presence of God in every situation — while dealing with the reality of our troubles we try to find moments to collect ourselves in quiet and look up to the light — moments that give us renewed strength and the courage to carry on.