The atrocities that human beings can inflict on other human beings leaves me doubled over, holding my face in my hands, supported by my elbows on my knees. I just realized that wasn't the proper stance to take. Kneeling in prayer. That's what is called for when reflecting on lives cut short, life experiences that get erased, and when the dreams of those who have died, are lost. My stream of consciousness just ran through various images that I have stored in my memory: Burmese Christians that were recently crucified by their neighbors; the genocides in Africa; the destruction in Aleppo, Syria and the numerous pictures of those fleeing Syria for their lives, only to drown with the dream of safety, never actually reaching it. The horrific photos of children who have been abused and neglected in the mightiest country in the world. Why seems to be such a useless question. The list of possible answers could probably lasso the moon.
When babies, toddlers, and children are encountering a person doing something around them, they try to look the person in the eyes and study their face, because they know that is where their first clues will come from, for whether or not the person is a danger to them. It's instinctual. Each of us learned to adapt to our surroundings this same way. So who was the first dangerous threat? You may or may not have thought about the serpent in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, but I did. What's important to note, is that there wasn't a perceived threat for Eve. The serpent merely asked her a few questions. We can talk about what was going through Eve's mind when the serpent in Genesis 3:1 said "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden?'" See what happened there? Sort of a bait and switch, questioning something untrue leads to an explanation of truth that leaves room for doubt. The next time you find yourself walking out of the store and getting into your car, imagine if someone asked you if you could pick the cashier who helped you, out of a line up. I'm guessing most of us would feel pretty confident we could do that. But what if they asked you to describe that person- their color of hair, were they wearing glasses, what color of shirt did they have on? You would be able to do the first, picking them out of a line up, but as soon as you had to describe specific attributes about them, you realize that maybe you didn't really know what they looked like, after all. That isn't true though, because you would know them when you saw them. Doubt. It is of no small insignificance to have doubt. What we know now about this phenomena, it's got a name but I don't remember it, is that just because we can't seem to recreate exactly what the person looked like into words, doesn't mean we should doubt that we saw them at all. Does that make sense? Eve was being asked to recall exactly what God said, which planted the seed of doubt, that led the conversation to the point where the serpent could then put a nail in the coffin- "You will certainly not die" he said. I can almost imagine Eve's gut instinct telling her that something just didn't sit right with what he was saying. Yet, his explanation was given with an authority of wisdom, that gave her the courage to dismiss her intuition. Deceit, deception, manipulation- these were at work in Eden at that moment. Only they were under the veil of asking for Eve to remember what and why God said what he said about the tree in the middle of the garden. The serpent was not threatening her. He was only bringing to her attention the reasons that made her doubt that she shouldn't eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Are there serpents in your life? I believe that we are all influenced by the serpents of this world. Think about fake news, one sided media coverage, hearing only half of the truth or even less, gossip, bullying, and even the lies we are capable of telling ourselves. We can't allow ourselves to have our values and beliefs used in a way that is harmful to another person. Left, right, republican, democrat, man, woman, black, white- each of us likely wants what we favor and value to be our lived reality. Just because some people want stricter gun laws, does not mean they want your guns taken away. And those who don't want stricter gun laws, are not saying there shouldn't be any laws. Our country is in the process of doing a lot of name calling, a lot of stereotyping, and a lot of drawing dividing lines- because we each have a serpent asking, probing, and doing a great job of "He said, She said" to bring us to the brink of irreconcilable differences. We must have faith in our fellow man, our neighbors, our political officials, our families and friends, because we are all on the same side- the side of peace and freedom. Maybe you just rolled your eyes at me- but when the rubber hits the road, if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem (and get this- that goes both ways).
When babies, toddlers, and children are encountering a person doing something around them, they try to look the person in the eyes and study their face, because they know that is where their first clues will come from, for whether or not the person is a danger to them. It's instinctual. Each of us learned to adapt to our surroundings this same way. So who was the first dangerous threat? You may or may not have thought about the serpent in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, but I did. What's important to note, is that there wasn't a perceived threat for Eve. The serpent merely asked her a few questions. We can talk about what was going through Eve's mind when the serpent in Genesis 3:1 said "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden?'" See what happened there? Sort of a bait and switch, questioning something untrue leads to an explanation of truth that leaves room for doubt. The next time you find yourself walking out of the store and getting into your car, imagine if someone asked you if you could pick the cashier who helped you, out of a line up. I'm guessing most of us would feel pretty confident we could do that. But what if they asked you to describe that person- their color of hair, were they wearing glasses, what color of shirt did they have on? You would be able to do the first, picking them out of a line up, but as soon as you had to describe specific attributes about them, you realize that maybe you didn't really know what they looked like, after all. That isn't true though, because you would know them when you saw them. Doubt. It is of no small insignificance to have doubt. What we know now about this phenomena, it's got a name but I don't remember it, is that just because we can't seem to recreate exactly what the person looked like into words, doesn't mean we should doubt that we saw them at all. Does that make sense? Eve was being asked to recall exactly what God said, which planted the seed of doubt, that led the conversation to the point where the serpent could then put a nail in the coffin- "You will certainly not die" he said. I can almost imagine Eve's gut instinct telling her that something just didn't sit right with what he was saying. Yet, his explanation was given with an authority of wisdom, that gave her the courage to dismiss her intuition. Deceit, deception, manipulation- these were at work in Eden at that moment. Only they were under the veil of asking for Eve to remember what and why God said what he said about the tree in the middle of the garden. The serpent was not threatening her. He was only bringing to her attention the reasons that made her doubt that she shouldn't eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Are there serpents in your life? I believe that we are all influenced by the serpents of this world. Think about fake news, one sided media coverage, hearing only half of the truth or even less, gossip, bullying, and even the lies we are capable of telling ourselves. We can't allow ourselves to have our values and beliefs used in a way that is harmful to another person. Left, right, republican, democrat, man, woman, black, white- each of us likely wants what we favor and value to be our lived reality. Just because some people want stricter gun laws, does not mean they want your guns taken away. And those who don't want stricter gun laws, are not saying there shouldn't be any laws. Our country is in the process of doing a lot of name calling, a lot of stereotyping, and a lot of drawing dividing lines- because we each have a serpent asking, probing, and doing a great job of "He said, She said" to bring us to the brink of irreconcilable differences. We must have faith in our fellow man, our neighbors, our political officials, our families and friends, because we are all on the same side- the side of peace and freedom. Maybe you just rolled your eyes at me- but when the rubber hits the road, if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem (and get this- that goes both ways).
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