SO, WHAT ON EARTH HAVE WE DONE?

The man and the woman (Adam and Eve) were brand new, mysteriously alive and aware in a world in which all their needs were met. They had God to watch over them like a mother, each other for company, good food to eat, and permission to do almost anything they could do. At this point they were more like brother and sister than husband and wife, because they were rather like children. In fact they remind us of ourselves when we were just starting out, before we had ever imagined that anything could go wrong, when we were yet innocent.

Now, many people ask, “Is this story true?”, and by this they mean, “Is it about something that actually happened to the first people God made thousands of years ago?” Obviously we could have a long discussion about this but, personally, I think it’s the wrong question. Adam and Eve are you and me, and the challenges they face are the challenges we face. Whatever this story might tell us about them, the important thing is what it tells us about us. And this goes for all the Bible stories, the ones that happened in history, and the ones that maybe didn’t. What we need to know is not the facts about how this or that took place or got started, but the truths about what things are and how they work in our lives. Mother, father, wife, husband, family, work, earth, plants, animals, sun, moon, stars, death and sin; these are the things you and I need to know about; that is, what they are and how to relate to them. And God, that great “Other” who is above and beyond it all? What am I to him, her or them, and he, she or they to me?

Well, I don’t know how long Adam and Eve managed to live in this world of innocence, this Paradise, but eventually they found themselves alone, gazing at the food they weren’t supposed to eat. It looked good, maybe even better than the food they were allowed to have.

God puts us in charge and then tells us what to do and not do. This hardly seems fair. God does whatever he wants, so if we do what we want we’ll be more like him. Perhaps he doesn’t want that. Perhaps he doesn’t really want what’s best for us. Maybe he doesn’t even know what’s best. Does he want to keep us small and inexperienced? Is he all about control and having everything for himself?

It was all kind of a blur. This was their chance so they reached out and grabbed it. No one was watching so they just took it. Nobody stopped them so they ate it. She went for it first, but he was close behind. Just a little thing really, but stolen. Just a quick look around, a sudden snatch, a greedy gulp, and it was over. Then, just as suddenly, they realized what they’d done; grabbing and taking, stealing and eating, not because they should but because they could.

Eve looked at herself and saw Adam looking. What if he grabbed me?, she thought. What if he took me just because he can?

Adam looked at himself as Eve stepped away. What does she say about me when I’m not there? Is she just pretending to love me, trying to control me?

So they took leaves and covered themselves, and they fled away and hid from each other. And the world was changed, no longer to be trusted, always and everywhere to be feared.

When God found them hiding he asked them what they’d done. Adam blamed Eve. Eve blamed a snake. The snake just sighed, and if he’d had shoulders I’m sure he’d have shrugged.

God felt sick about it all, but it was too late, the damage was done. “Your work will no longer be a game for you, Adam, but a trial. And, Eve, your children, the dolls that you dream of, will be pain. And the snake will be an enemy, and the whole natural world no longer a garden. It will be wonderful, but a wild place, and dying will be on your mind, and growing old, and going down to dust.”

And God made them proper clothes and sent them out of the garden. “There is no coming back for you now”, he said, “but the whole earth is set before you. Go, and fill it with your children.”

And, as they fled from his presence, they said to themselves, “Surely he will pursue us wherever we go. Oh, why do we fear him so?”

And, as God watched them go, he said to himself, “Surely I will pursue them wherever they go. Oh, why do I love them so?”

Next... gonna get worse before it gets better