The sixth
chapter of Genesis tells us that the sons of God saw the daughters
of men and thought that they were fair and so made these daughters
their wives. These wives bore them children who were mighty men.
"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the
earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart
was only evil continually. . . . And the Lord said, I will destroy
man whom I have created from the face of the earth. . . . But
Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord."
And further,
"And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon
the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life,
from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall
die. But with thee will I establish my covenant. . . "
In Atra-Hasis:
The Babylonian Story of the Flood, a compilation of Babylonian,
Assyrian, Canaanite and original Sumerian tablets credited to
W. G. Lambert and A. R. Millard, we learn that the gods were very
displeased with the carnal habits of the men they had created.
The god Enlil created a plan to rid the earth of mankind through
"aches, dizziness, chills, fever, disease, sickness, plague
and pestilence". The hero of the story, Atra-Hasis, is seen
as our biblical Noah. He was the "one who was exceedingly
wise" and especially close to Enlil's brother, the god Enki.
It was Enki who sabotaged Enlil's first plan to eradicate mankind
through the many illnesses at the request of Atra-Hasis.
And so Enlil
was "filled with anger" and talked with the Assembly
of the gods about the "killing flood" that was in the
offing. (The gods knew a natural catastrophe was imminent.) It
was to be kept a secret from mankind and would do the deed that
Enlil had been unsuccessful in accomplishing. The gods were bound
by oath to keep this secret and this vow bound Enki.
So the epic
tells us that Enki called Atra-Hasis to the temple and made him
stay behind a screen. Enki then pretended to speak to the wall
(the screen) and told it that "on all the habitations, over
the cities, a storm will sweep, the destruction of mankind's seed
it will be . . . ." Enki advised Atra-Hasis to build a boat,
a water-borne vessel. Though we imagine this boat to be an "ark"
due to our Bible stories, the original word is teba stemming from
the root "sunken". It could be concluded that Enki instructed
Atra-Hasis (Noah) to build a submarine - a submersible vessel.
In light of
these illuminating passages from ancient text, that one man of
positive intent was able to turn the tide of history and save
himself and his family, might it not be possible that many could
create the same effect in the present time? If we are to construe
ancient texts as the basis for our theories that we are in the
process of causing one or more catastrophes to befall man by our
thoughts, feelings and actions, is it not possible that through
the power of prayer and the turning of hearts that we would be
able to choose the more positive of possible outcomes?
We have the
ability to be aware of the need of change NOW. We are consciously
evolving (unlike mankind during the lifetimes of Enlil and Enki)
and are in the perfect position to accelerate our own transformation
through deliberate concentration on the forms of thought, feeling
and emotion that will guide us gracefully (rather than being catapulted)
into the next level of our conscious reality.
The key is
willingness - willingness, awareness and desire. If we are willing
to become aware of what is being required of us, and if we have
the desire to shift our attention from negative, fear-driven responses
to positive acts of compassion, we will consciously create the
new world we all long for in collaboration with all of life. It
is possible; anything is possible in a universe of unlimited possibilities.
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