Innocence
Genesis 3:8-21
I don't think there is any single event in our life that fully strips us of our innocence. I think innocence falls away incrementally, like sunburnt skin. There were many moments in my life that challenged my childlike innocence--the innocence that deferred to the wisdom of adults, and can't imagine authority figures betraying an image of impeachable morality and judgment. But one in particular stands out in my memory, and that was the funeral of my grandfather when I was 18 years old.
My grandfather had just died, and we were all together for the funeral. We got together to eat and to tell stories about Grandpa, but I was also shocked to see family members, in the days before and after the funeral, seem to circle my grandfather's possessions almost like vultures, considering what they wanted, etc. while my grandmother was still living! It was shocking to feel feelings of judgment and anger at behavior I didn't think was possible from people I had grown up admiring.
A loss of innocence is incredibly disturbing, and scary.
The story of Adam and Eve leaving the Garden of Eden is often taught to us as a cautionary tale about the results of disobedience to God--but what if it might actually be a story that touches on the loss of innocence all of us experience in our journey to adulthood?
And what if what God is telling Adam and Eve isn't an angry sentence for their transgression, but actually a guide to what they can expect from the world now that they can fully see it? I mean, they DID gain knowledge of the difference between good and evil, didn't they?
What if God's words to Adam were given in the tone of a patient father giving advice to his son about what earning your own keep is going to be like as he moves away from home? What if God's warning to Eve was offered in the same way a mother excitedly shares with her daughter just what miracles her body is capable of doing?
It is AFTER they leave the garden that Eve learns how she specifically as a woman shares in God's image as one who creates--her entire body used to give birth to new life. It is AFTER they leave the garden that Adam actually grows crops for himself, rather than simply eating what was in front of him in the garden.
Does flipping this story on its head feel disturbing? I think it is exciting. I love it when we can find new ways to understand scripture, especially when those new readings can offer hope for a better more grace-filled understanding of God.
