And he was not...

In one of the scripture readings for today (Genesis 5:1-24) we hear of Enoch. The Bible doesn't really tell us much about Enoch. We know that he was the father of Methuselah. We also know that he was the son of Jared, who was the son of Mahalaleel, who was the son of Cainan, who was the son of Enos, who was the son of Seth, who was the son of Adam.  We also know that he lived 365 years on this earth. This point is strange in that others of his time were living 800 to 900 years. But the reason that Enoch only lived 365 years on this earth was not because he died, but because he was no more.

Thus all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. Genesis 5:23-24

What does it mean to walk with God? Obviously Enoch was pleasing in the sight of God. He must certainly have lived a holy life, doing the things that God commanded and that God wanted. Much in the same way we are called to walk with God, even in our everyday lives. We are asked to live a life of virtues, a life of mercy, compassion and love. 

In the Canon of St. Andrew of Crete, one of the canticles recalls the a story from Noah's life. This story, in Genesis 9:20-23)  tells us of the time when after the flood Noah had planted a vineyard, harvested the fruit, made wine and became drunk. Noah's son Ham, seeing his father naked and passed out in his tent, thought it was funny and went to tell his brothers. His brothers, Shem and Japeth, had concern and covered their father, walking backwards with a garment. They did not look at him and did not acknowledge his drunkenness or his nakedness. The simply looked away from his sin.

During this Lenten season we took should be as Shem and Japeth. We should not acknowledge others sinfulness, we should conceal it. We should not make fun of others sinfulness or shortcomings, we should look away from them. We should be careful of exposing others sin in our own false "concern" when we find ourselves gossiping about others. Let us instead walk with God, praying for others and looking at sinfulness only in ourselves.