Genesis 3:8-13

Let me quote from my 1970 The New American Bible: "When they heard the sound of the Lord God moving about in the garden at the breezy time of the day, the man and his wife hid themselves from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. The Lord God then called to the man and asked him, 'Where are you?' He answered, I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid myself.' Then he asked, 'Who told you that you were naked? You have eaten, then, from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!' The man replied, 'The woman whom you put here with me--she gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it.' The Lord God then asked the woman, 'Why did you do such a thing?' The woman answered, 'The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it.' Note that the Lord God moved move through the garden, so God has a body and physical presence of some kind. De had given Adam and Eve and Satan the gift of free agency. God then instructed them on what to do and what not to do. They agreed or appeared to agree to be willing to obey God, but temptation came their way, they sinned, broke God’s commandment to them, and were punished. We cannot violate divine law, natural law, legal code or social rules without suffering and being punished for our poor choices made. To be awake and to be free, to touch and eat from the Tree of Life is to enter the earthly realm, to encounter pain, pleasure, suffering, joy, want, hunger, disease, criminal behavior committed by other humans or oneself, mortality, love, hate, good and evil. One is no longer immortal, eternal, unchanging, pure good or pure evil. They knew that they were naked, and they felt ashamed, embarrassed, frightened and a need to hide in order that they could evade God, an impossibility. God knew everything, what they had done and why. To disobey God is to sin, and as soon as they sinned, this First Couple felt ashamed. It indicates that we, to some degree are naturally endowed to know right from wrong. Notice how Adam place the blame for his sinning on Eve and notice that Eve placed the blame for her sinning on the serpent. No one ever easily mans up and confesses straight away that he sinned and that it is his fault, solely and personally. Let me now quote the same lines from the Holy Bible (KJV): "And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called unto Adam, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded the that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, the woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the woman, what is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, the serpent beguiled me, and I did eat." God walks and speaks just like a human being. If God is so like humans, or vice versa, and God made Adam and then made him a wife, could I not assume that the Father is married to the Mother? Adam and Eve fruitlessly sought to hide from God to avoid having to answer for their sinning. We too believe that we can hide from God, deceive God, out-maneuver God. Their efforts failed, so why should we hope to succeed where they failed? My sense of this story about being thrown out of the Garden of Eden was not a fall from grace, but a nudge to liberate these two first parents, and all of subsequent humanity. By enjoying and exercising free agency, by sinning and being virtuous, by living and dying, the fall from grace was actually a gesture of love and trust, that God liberated humans so that they could lead meaningful, responsible lives and earn a chance to become someone fine, developed and loving. Still, leaving God's side in perfect goodness, happiness, pure love and immortal bliss is indeed a fall from grace, be the ejection merited or purposively undertaken by God to boot humans out into the real world, where they have maximum liberty to build a life of their own. I cannot tell if the ejection was a punishment or hidden gift. For the pious, the devoted, the loving and wise, fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. But Adam and Eve were utterly without wisdom when they ate the forbidden fruit, but their consciences (innate sense of personal shame) kicked in and then they were afraid of God. It could be that Jehovah forbade their eating from the tree of life and knowledge because no life is meaningful, unless some standard of minimally acceptable behavior is commanded of us by God. In the Garden of Eden, humans and God easily saw each other, were comfortable with each other, and conversed readily with each other. After the Fall, God removes Deself from humans, and is invisible, largely unheard and remote. One would need grow in love, talent, truth, brilliance and wisdom to be authentic enough and awake enough to see and talk to God a personal level. I am fascinated that nakedness in Eden was not something for humans to be much aware of, let alone be ashamed of. After the fall, their nakedness is vulnerability, to be covered up, to survive in an unfriendly world.