Of all the Seasons of the church’s year, Lent is the oldest and the most striking. The purple colour, the Ashes, fish on Friday, Stations of the Cross and 'giving up something for lent' all evoke powerful and common memories. In last Sunday's Gospel reading Jesus goes into the desert and, during Lent we do as well.

During these 40 days, we try to go back to basics, to breathe new life into our Christian identity; it is like a fresh start. A fresh start is what the story of Noah is all about. It is not difficult for us to understand the fear that the ancients had of floods, typhoons, or a deluge. It could exterminate entire villages, towns, and Civilizations. Whether it was sudden or gradual, rising water threatened to destroy everything in sight. In the Asian tsunamis that we witnessed a while ago we saw the power of water to destroy. Noah, however, was safe because he was in the ark that rode above the waters. After the rains stopped, he saw the Rainbow sign. It was a sign of a new beginning and a sign to the entire human race of God's promise to bring Salvation to those Who repent and are Faithful to Him.

It is still spectacular to see a rainbow, It reminded the people of Israel that whatever the weather or storms they experienced, God is always faithful. The Ark and the Rainbow are for us, two signs of God's salvation. We are still afraid of floodwaters but there are other raging and rising Waters around that can destroy lives and families just as tragically. We have all been affected by the Corona virus for more than a year, and having to distance ourselves from our loved ones, family and friends has taken its toll on us all, and we are more afraid now than we have ever
been.

But like Noah we have been given an ark, the Church, it floats over the waters as a place of safety and calm. We find the ark in the community of faith into which we were baptised. Our rainbow sign is the Eucharist. It is God's abiding sign to remain faithful to us in any and every storm. Lent opens the door for us to enter the ark once again. Here, from within the ark, we can behold the rainbow sign of the Eucharist telling us that we are never alone.

Malcolm Fletcher