Could a robot enjoy a life of bliss?

November 1st 2010 marks my first day reading, in chronological order, the stories of the Bible in 1 year. Since writing helps me get more out of what I read, I intend to share my thoughts. Which also gives me something to blog about, since obviously I don't blog about anything else.

I just finished reading Genesis, chapters 1-3. I am bothered by what I just read about the man and woman God created and placed in Eden to live. They had the perfect life; they had everything. And they completely blew it on something that frankly sounds like the scenario played out between every toddler and parent on the planet, much more than a temptation worthy of compromising the fate of mankind for the rest of earth's existence. Thanks a lot Adam and Eve. But I'm getting ahead of myself... allow me to back up in the story.

In the first chapter of Genesis, God is busy. We read what He says, sees, separates, calls, creates, makes, forms, and blesses. He rests. He orchestrates how our world will function, its parts co-existing, helping each other to flourish. Plants, trees, fruits, seeds growing to be eaten. Lights in orbit marking seasons, days, years. Making a planet that's meant to be inhabited and then populating it in a way that is "fitting." Nothing lacking in its worth, including man. He forms him. Breathes into him, turning "dust of the ground" into a living being. And gently, tenderly, God places the man to live in a garden He personally had planted. Like Ty Pennington's special project on Extreme Home Makeover - beautiful and functional, it's man's home.

And then there's what feels like "the catch." This tree of the knowledge of good and evil. What's it doing there? Just one chapter ago nothing existed but the Spirit of God hovering over the waters. Am I stuck in the final season of Lost? Does this tree possess some power that can't be eliminated, only contained? God warns Adam not to eat this fruit, and in what reads like the same breath astutely observes, "It is not good for the man to be alone." Well said. Get that guy some back up so he doesn't sabotage this paradise situation.

Now I don't know about you, but as more of a loner than a people person I would be putting on the breaks about bringing someone else in on my perfect little home. Again with great tenderness and understanding, God engages Adam to sort through the other animals one by one, with God bringing each one over "to see what he would name them." Fully engaged, God and Adam share this once-in-a-planet-formation opportunity, creator and creation in an intimate moment as equals. God could have done this on his own. But he includes Adam, sharing his power, and allowing Adam to see that there really isn't a suitable partner for him out there. From Adam God creates the woman, and Adam is fully committed to her as an extension of himself. They are together, they are in close connection with God, and they are free.

We know what happens next. Eve listens to the lie. Adam listens to the lie. They feel ashamed, they hide. They start trying to take care of themselves apart from God and losing sight of His commitment to them. The consequences are inevitable for the tempter and the tempted. Life in paradise is over; everything is changed for Adam, Eve, and all generations to come.

So why was this tree of knowledge there in the first place? Couldn't God have just left that one little plant out of the landscaping design? And why does God's "because you have done this" speech not include some hope, some instruction for how to get back to the connection and freedom they had?

It's easy for me to see God as reading Adam and Eve their rights, giving them a speech they have coming as part of their punishment for being "bad." But the consequences of their choice have already shown themselves as Adam and Eve felt for the first time that they were lacking and needed to find a way to cover themselves. They felt fear that led them to run, avoid, hide, distrust, and blame. God is giving statement of fact that will play out for them due to their choice rather than a punishment he himself is giving. They will experience pain and hardship, unsatisfied desires, unfulfillable longings. They will experience separation from the only home where they were truly satisfied. Maybe God did not have to give them instructions for life, hope of heaven, when He knew they would spend their lives longing to gain back what had been revealed as they lived together with Him in the garden. The hope of heaven had been implanted in their hearts as a paradise lost, and they would long for it anyway without needing to be told. And even though they tried to avoid God and cover themselves, God allows blood to be shed for them, to Himself provide a covering for them. Though their world has changed forever, His love and wise compassion has not changed.

I'm bothered by their loss. I'm sorrowful thinking of how quickly their immeasurable wealth was squandered, and for what? It's like a heart breaking in its final crack as Adam, with nothing else to give, gives Eve her name. He is a man stripped of once overflowing joy, but saves his last shred of honor so that he can give it to the one he loves. Or perhaps it's his attempt to feel what he once had with God, going back to the moment he felt so connected with Him.

I wish Adam and Eve could have stayed in Eden forever. Harmony. Personal, open, fulfilling, exciting relationship with God. Flourishing life. Bliss.

I don't know why God included this tree of knowledge that could drive such a wedge into Adam and Eve's relationship with Him. But I do know I'm thankful that He is a God who creates the wonders my heart longs for, and allows me to have the choice to come freely to Him. Without the tree of knowledge, maybe we'd all be robots, only connected to God by obligation or inability to think of anything else. Inability to fully commit. To love. To accept the kind of relationship that is like an extension of myself, a long-lost part of me.

And I don't know about you, but I don't need to be told to long for a place where I'm as free and as unafraid as the first man and woman started out to be. Somehow my heart does that all on its own.