RAIN UNTIL THE COWS COME HOME

RAINBOW AND COW by David Ovila

Life and its beginnings in our birth would not be possible without the sustenance of water. In ritual we often celebrate this in manners of cleansing and even the symbolic gesture of baptism. Jesus even followed this rite in the gospels to express his desire to follow God's will. We do so to create new direction and meaning in our lives as we tread the ripples that encircle us as we are baptized. 
In this ancient of stories that harks back to new beginnings, what does the water mean in this story.? What does a renewed chance mean and how is that related to the declaration of a covenant?

Genesis 9:8-17
9:8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him,

9:9 "As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you,

9:10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark.

9:11 I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth."

9:12 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:

9:13 I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

9:14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds,

9:15 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.

9:16 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."

9:17 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."