Size Doesn’t Matter?
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In West Virginia, there is a very prominent roadside attraction along the interstate. You can see it on the cover of Roadside Religion. It is the rebuilding of Noah’s Ark. I always think of it when people talk like the myth in Genesis could have actually happened. The last several days in the Orthodox lectionary have focused on Noah and the story of the deluge, so it came to mind again.
You see, it’s been in the same unfinished state for several years. It looked exactly the same when I first saw it in June 2005 as when I saw it again in October 2006. I wonder if the problem with continuing is the size. The size of this marvel, you see, is totally accurate: 300 cubits x 50 cubits x 30 cubits. Which is, if we are generous, 450 ft x 75 ft x 45 ft (133.5 m x 22.25 m x 13.35 m).
You may wonder, as I did, how it is that every breathing creature on the earth is supposed to fit into such a small space. Perhaps that’s what the architects of this strange roadside site wondered, too, when they stopped. Or perhaps they believe that God, had he willed it, could have opened a rift in time and space to fit all the creatures in. Think of the Tardis from Dr. Who. Except with God, all things are possible, right?