In the season of Lent, I have been thinking a lot about sin. We begin this time with the line “remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.” It comes from the second creation story of Adam and Eve, Genesis 3: 19. And the problem with this focus on Sin as Originally coming from the first humans, but especially the woman, is that it impacts not just the way we think about ourselves and our place in the world, but the way that we think about others and how we “hold them to account.” Now I break down the story of Adam and Eve in a recent episode of the podcast, you can check it out here:
What I have come to realize – at least for now is that sin is not about me drinking, having sex out of wedlock, or any of the things that we often like to point to as sin, sex, drugs, rock&roll. It is about relationship. As you read the second creation story, you can see how each step is the creation process is about interconnection and building intimacy between all parts of what God brings into being. There is nothing that the being have to do, except be in relationship with each other and support each other as they walk in the Garden with the being that created them. But when the human beings decide that this is not enough, they need to know more, that is when their search for knowledge and status over relationship ends their joyous peace.
So for me sin is this broken relationship and lack of accountability. What if they stood before God naked, even though they knew they were naked and said, “God I am naked, I have shame.” And I imagine God saying, “my child, have no shame for this is beautiful – you how I created you is beautiful and perfect.” And we humans even after eating of the fruit might have an opportunity for reconnection after severing. Would the punishment have been so harsh if Adam took blame with his wife and the serpent? What if each of them spoke up and said, if we are to be in relationship, we can’t have a one sided relationship, we have questions and we think the tree will tell us the truth for while you created us, we still do not trust you. And God could sit next to God’s created being and do some emotional co-regulating. For often I think our perceptions of God are how we perceive parenting. But that is a blog for another time.
For now, I want us to think about what ways we have severed relationship with self. For me it is about how I treat my body – what I eat, how I move, and mostly how I talk to myself. For let my therapist and I worked out that I would stop talking badly about myself. Its going ok, still needing reminders every once in a while, but for the most part a wonderful gift.
How do I sever relationship with the planet and other beings? Climate change… so sorry about that planet. With other human beings – my therapist often asks, “are you speaking out of your desires or defensiveness.” We have all been harmed by people and I carry that harm in the form of feeling the need to protect myself from everyone, including those who love me. So when something happens, I can often say the mean and nasty thing. It is so easy to come up with a jab. But if I live in my truth and not my trauma (another therapy line), I can figure out what I actually want to happen. How I actually want to be in relationship with another person and then move from that place of desire and pleasure. Just for experiment, let us try this out with Adam and Eve.
Serpent: You know if you eat of the tree of Good and Evil – you won’t die, you just will know as much as God knows.
Eve: are there things that God would not tell us if we asked? The fruit does look delicious, but God has said that we should not eat of it. We may not die literally, but perhaps we will have demonstrated a betrayal to the creator.
Serpent: Yeah, but the fruit is so good and yummy. It will feel good to eat it.
Eve: I get that, let me check in with Adam and the rest of the forest to see what they think for what I do affects these other beings as well. What do you think Adam?
Adam: What if the serpent is right and there is something good about eating from this tree? We could know so much and I really want to know more. I know I got to name all the animals, but why wouldn’t God tell us everything?
Serpent: word, this fruit is delicious.
Eve/Adam: If it is so delicious, have you eaten of it? What was it like for you to eat of the tree? What did you learn from the experience and where might there have been draw backs?
By this time, God is already out for the evening stroll.
God: Seems like an interesting conversation is happening here.
Eve: Yes the serpent is talking to us about this lovely tree that you told us not to eat from. I think he makes a good point that the fruit would be lovely to eat. I really want to eat from the tree. It seems that if I do so, 1. I would know things that you know and 2. I would eat some delicious fruit. Both of these ideas are appealing to me.
Adam: I have to agree with Eve on this one. I feel like we are missing out by not eating from this one tree. Why would we have access to everything except this one thing. Do you not trust us to know as much as you?
God: This is an interesting conversation. Do I not trust you? I am not sure, but I do not trust that if you knew as much as I do that you would be able to live a free life. By having some things that you don’t know everything about, you are free to live without fear and doubt and self deprecation and so many human feelings that are hard to manage. By having some reliance on me and trusting in the power of relationship, were all creation working together is in harmony, you will have a more life-giving experience of this world.
And so the conversation continues for all Millenia.
By centering relationship – we might still eat the apple, but maybe we don’t have generations of people thinking that eating apples are the problem. Maybe we have generations of people learning how to stay in relationship even when we don’t agree about the apple eating, or sexuality or housing policy or policing or…. Instead of thinking that beings are evil, we would see evil for what it is- the breaking of relationship, the severing of connection and we could find new paths to reconcile and live into a new kind of relationship with each other. Because sometimes what is severed was so painful, that our relationship can never return to the intimacy we once had, but it does not take away that we are forever connected and therefore need to find a path forward in a world that allows all of us to thrive.
For if we do not, we will continue to live into the punishment of God, oppression and power-over. This we cover next time when we talk more about Phyllis Trible.
Pursuing Call 