Lenten Challenge

We know the story of Adam and Eve. We know the story of the Garden of Eden. We’ve heard it a million times. They were tempted. They broke the rules – they ate from the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. They were tempted with the understanding their eyes would be opened and they would know the difference between good and evil. “You will be like God” said the serpent.

They fell to the temptation.

Their eyes WERE opened… and they “knew they had no clothes”. In some translations, the text says “At that moment their eyes were opened… and they were ashamed (of their nakedness).” In the Hebrew the word “Shame” does not appear. According to the original Hebrew, they were not ashamed because they had no clothes… The Hebrew does NOT say “They felt shame”… it says “they recognized they had no clothes”. That’s all. There is no moral judgement to their nakedness.

Their nakedness perhaps may have to do with self-consciousness… with self-awareness.

When my daughter was a little girl, after she’d take a bath, she was just as likely to leave the bathroom naked as she was to leave it clothed. But by her pre-teen years she started becoming more self-conscious… more self-aware of when she was wearing clothes and not. This is normal behavior. For as variety of psychological and emotional reasons, kids at that age are supposed to feel more self-conscious – it not only expresses their identities, their individuality, but paradoxically, it also heightens their need to identify with their peers. They are now more conscious of their differences.


This is also a time where the person – the pre-teen – recognizes their own place as an “Independent Moral Agent”. Now it more and more falls on them to be moral. Now it is time for others to hold them more and more responsible for their actions… their words… their behavior. Now it comes the time for these young people to see themselves more and more as responsible for what they say and do.



And to do this well, they must learn the difference between good… and evil... between what is healthy and unhealthy. Here, the temptation to taste from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is a temptation towards growth – growth as a human being. It is movement towards clearer recognition of what it means to be a more moral person… a better person. This temptation calls us towards clarity of heart and mind… of Spirit. Towards being a fuller human being!



So I’m not sure why leaving Eden is bad.

Unless… this story is written from the perspective of Adam and Eve’s progeny. Once “grown-up” we sometimes feel the burdens of life weighing heavy. And we wonder… wouldn’t it be nice to live in Eden? Who among us has not at some point – or two – dreamed of returning to Eden? The Eden of Hakuna Matata! – No Worries – … no duties, no responsibilities, and a place where everything is taken care of! This sounds like a vacation! …Like one of those “all-inclusive” resorts. If Eden were like this, who wouldn’t want to stay there forever?


But because we adults have already eaten from fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil… this Eden would have a darker side. In Eden, no one is held responsible for their behavior     or their words       or their actions.    In Eden, no one has awareness of who they are as people… as individuals. In Eden, there is no sense of self-identity, no sense of self-awareness… because there is no need for these things. Things would indeed be taken care of for us -not because it would be nice to just relax and be lazy for a while, like a vacation. Things would be taken care of for us because we would not be capable of taking care of them for ourselves.




As babies… as children… Eden is wonderful! Eden is what we need! The Eden of being taken care of by loving parents, who are ever vigilant of our needs, our security, our growth. But as adults… a return to Eden would become a torment… a loss of identity… of soul. As an adult, returning to Eden would be a hell. But, in spite of this darker side, we humans have a tendency to want to go back.



Maybe if this story were written from the perspective of God, it might look differently:

“Adam… Eve… I know you two cannot understand me right now, but I need to tell you something. This place is made for you… you need this place… it’s perfect for you… just the way you are… right now. But in time, things will change. I don’t know if you’ll ever understand this, but at some point you’ll need to leave Eden. You’ll never be able to grow up if you stay here. It will be hard – and you may hate me on occasion – but you’ll need to learn to become what I have formed you for… to be human beings in all your fullness. And in order to do this, you will have to grow… and learn… and become…

"This tree will help you. You are not ready for it yet, but when you are ready… and you will know when that time comes… you will need it to help you. You will need it to open your eyes. I will not be able to open them for you. Part of becoming a human being means opening your own eyes. Opening your eyes means learning the difference between good and evil.”





In the Gospel, after he is baptized, Jesus goes into the desert to pray, to prepare himself… to be tempted. But this is a different kind of temptation. Here, Jesus reflects not only the temptations we all face, but, in full humanity, he expresses the most healthy reactions to these temptations. Jesus, bearing the fullness of what it means to be human… Jesus “fully human” – not said as a theological after-thought, but as a way of saying he reflects as fully an awareness of what it means to be a human being… expresses the greater angels of our nature; self-awareness, self-giving, self-control, working for something greater than oneself.

His temptations… the temptations he faced… were the temptations to move backwards. Having already passed the age of self-awareness, this temptation was not a return to the innocence of a child – because adults cannot return to becoming un-aware… but to the twisted Eden of adulthood regressed.



The temptation Jesus faced was a temptation all adults face – an invitation to the darker aspects of human nature; the temptation to use power and control coercively and destructively… power wielded over others… against others – where our identity is more important than anyone else’s identity. The temptation towards self-indulgence, of satisfying one’s own urges… over against the good of others. This temptation is towards the importance of one’s self above all other “selves” in the Garden.

His temptation was to return to Eden… But once an adult, if we are tempted to return to Eden… this Eden is not an Eden of comfort, security, and joy… but an Eden twisted and darkened with the corruption of adulthood regressed into selfishness and self-indulgence… into power wielded with impunity, without mercy or compassion. This Eden is not one of love, but one lacking it!





I am drawn – challenged – to return to our own time, and look at our own world, our own culture… and identify and discuss our temptations to return to this darker Eden. I am challenged to find within ourselves and our culture – in this time of Lent – our own ego-centric expressions of seeking Eden. Is it a reflection of this darker Eden to want to save money on clothes by buying them from one of the box stores… and later learning our clothes were made in a sweat-shop in a developing country?      “Yes, but they are getting paid for their work”, someone could respond. True indeed… but would we want our children working there? Instead of going to school? Would knowing this change our behavior? I saw a story from the BBC recently about the story-behind-the-story… the people who mine the mineral cobalt in Central Africa – cobalt being one of those rare earth metals needed for the growing number of electrical devices we are so completely dependent on nowadays. Some are children younger than my son. One young boy in the story, Dorson, is just eight years old.




Does this knowledge make us feel guilty? Ashamed for what we do?   Of not knowing our life-styles do indeed have consequences… usually somewhere else?        Does our Eden include a certain degree of obliviousness? Of being unaware of the corporate consequences of our modern life-styles?

But opening our eyes can bring a sense of knowledge… and with it the power to do something for the greater good… Power FOR the good of all – power WITH the good of others in minds. Once made aware… does this knowledge call us towards action of some kind? Towards making things as right as possible? There are so many examples of our unawareness… we… as individuals cannot address them all… cannot change them all by ourselves. So maybe we choose to help change one life… one person… to address one area of effort... and make a difference there.


I am not the first to recognize how our political system seems to be devolving into a spectacle of what it could be – a healthy debate of the important issues of our day. I am not the first to recognize it feels like we’re in a centrifuge – like we’re being pulled to one side or the other… like what was once “the middle ground”… where compromise and healthy debate and conversation took place… where we could not only see our differences, but – more importantly – our commonalities… that Middle Ground is now being replaced by a fissure – becoming fast a chasm – that prevents us from crossing the aisle to even shake a hand, much less listen.

This emphasis on self-interest above all else seems too… well… self-indulgent – another side of this regression to the Darker Eden of our natures. To who’s benefit is it that we cut off our noses to spite our faces? To who’s benefit is it that we choose against our shared country’s interest?



These things – and more – challenge me this Lent. These things… that stand in our way of becoming true human beings – human beings in all our fullness. I am drawn to our First-Fathers and First-Mothers departure from Eden and their continued journey of self-awareness and self-consciousness extending all the way to us to this very day their blood in our veins their challenges and victories in our hearts and psyche’s their temptations in our lives their journey to full-humanity living itself out in our own day lived out in our own bodies!




“Adam… Eve… I know you two cannot understand me right now, but I need to tell you something. This place is made for you… you need this place… it’s perfect for you… just the way you are… right now. But in time, things will change. I don’t know if you’ll ever understand this, but at some point you’ll need to leave Eden. You’ll never be able to grow up if you stay here. It will be hard – and you may hate me on occasion – but you’ll need to learn to become what I have formed you for… to be human beings in all your fullness. And in order to do this, you will have to grow… and learn… and become…




This tree will help you. You are not ready for it yet, but when you are ready… and you will know when that time comes… you will need it to help you. You will need it to open your eyes. I will not be able to open them for you. Eden will be closed to you because part of becoming a human being means opening your own eyes. Opening your eyes means learning the difference between good and evil.

"So, grow… become… Human beings! And teach your children to grow and become… human beings! Teach them to open their eyes… and hearts… and spirits. And in time… your becoming will more and more touch the spark of the Holy. Always remember - You will never be alone... neither of you... nor your children…. nor your children’s children… and on to ages of ages… remember this… and teach them.”