Today seems to be a day of recollection and revelation, even though its only 9am! * The story of Genesis, and particularly up to Chapter 3 is a narrative about Grace and Judgment. Eden is the natural state of the world, the way God intended Life to be for all Creation. Can we call it Grace? The Judeo-Christian mystical traditions all seem to point to a fact that only now do I see: Eden is that state of profound wholeness and rightness that comes from living in a at-oneness with Gods Presence in the here and now and forevermore. Everything needed is given before we ever existed, is something we should be taking from the first two Chapters. The mystical experience, no matter how brief, is a return to that state of Grace, the profound Awareness of Presence and the ensuing oneness and wholeness that comes from no longer living a life divided as a Parker J. Palmer says. * In Chapter 3 of Genesis, Judgment is the original sin. By partaking the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, we learn to think the world apart, and learn to live a life divided from our own wholeness and who we are in the Grace bestowed by Presence before we even existed. Judgment, as Gregory Boyd seems to definite it (and as I have been living it) is trying to improve ones standing in front of Self, Other or God by labeling whats good and evil; thus generating Ego--a False and separate Self opposed to the True Self that God created, sees and loves. Original Sin is born out of a lie of who I and the rest of Creation truly are. We fall prey to the belief that God and the Life/Grace bestowed is somehow not good enough. Somewhere in our early years, we all fall prey to a Sickness unto Death which Kierkegaard calls Despair. We are a Self that does not want to be itself. Adam and Eve decide to partake of knowing Good and Evil…a job only God is really fit to take on. In some way they are either ignorant or rebellious, but in any case that is Eves sin. The consequences are immediate in the story. Immediately they hide from God. Naked --a not good enough---becomes something bad or even evil to them, and God immediately knows what they have done. In the scope of just a day, let alone the greater contexts of my life or those I observe around me….How is this story NOT played out constantly? How often do I fall prey to the Accuser who says, not good enough and then offers the temptation to take on Gods job of filling a vacuum that DOESNT EXIST in Self, Other or Creation? When is there NOT an inevitable feeling of nakedness that comes from being a Self that doesnt want to be a Self in the Presence of God, a making of good, bad or even an evil I feel resentment toward and a drive to combat or kill? Whether Eden really existed is not the most important question. Regardless, we can rediscover, re-collect and LIVE IT OUT--and that is the life task of a person of Way. Literal event or archetype or symbol, the story points to a God-centered and Grace-filled existence that Adam and Eve ran away from and Jesus beckons me to return after living most of my life in exile. * I am starting to see that there are antidotes to the Sickness Unto Death and the Judgment that comes with it. Antidotes to Judgment is to realize Grace is already given…to me, to you and to Creation. How do we know? The Agape-Love displayed on Calvary. Im starting to see what Paul means by calling Jesus the second Adam, but I will refrain from speaking about it until God grants more understanding through experience. Good and Not Good Enough is spiritual optical illusion, an illness that only God can cure us of. There is no vacuum, but because I have been convinced its real, I try to fill it with the roles I play, the things I know, the skills I develop, the opinions of others, the ideologies I attached to and the things, processes and thoughts I inevitably become addicted to. What the world considers real is actually a desert….a desert of the real as opposed to the Eden that God intended for me to live. The reason Presence and Grace generate a peace that passes all understanding is because the Ego and the world(s) it creates operate on an entirely different (and false) set of experiences, knowledge and skill sets. The Ego CANT understand Eden. It CANT see Eden because it chooses Judgment over Peace in every moment. It prefers exile over what Repentance really means. Moreover, Ego condemns all other creatures to exile from Gods Presence and Grace (again something ONLY GOD CAN DO). Thus the opposite of Eden is Hell. I make the choice of Eden or Hell…right now…every moment, every hour, every day, God doesnt necessarily send me to Hell. Ive chosen it by refusing to see Presence and the Grace, Peace, and Good Enough that was already given. The greatest desire right now in my life is to find way(s) to come home rather than live a life of exile. I am actually asking the if Eden is real. Is Heaven real, and Hell. Im coming up with a resounding yes, which only drives me further to ask God to show me home and help me remain there in the face of overwhelming accusers and temptations that would cheat me out of a human birthright. How does one stay in Eden, in Heaven? We are commanded to refrain from Judgment, and yet it is now woven into the tapestry of my day. Exile is something I and everyone else take for granted as if it was reality or natural. I am starting to see there MUST BE another kind of life thats available right here right now…cause the one I have lived for 43 years ISNT WORKING FOR ME, THOSE AROUND ME, AND THOSE I SHALL NEVER MEET. And so, is this not the Life that Jesus speaks of? I am tempted to ask Why dont we take this seriously…a reality that is concrete, something urgently needed and something tangible here and now, rather than projecting it into to some fantastical future? Well, it seems obvious. We have become comfortable in our Despair. We take Judgment, our original sin, as the status quo as well as all the fruits that come from it.
Posted on: Tue, 26 Nov 2013 01:43:48 +0000
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