Mar 25 - "Why?"

Genesis 3:1-15
"But the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” He said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.”
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Talk about shirking responsibility...

God asks Adam a question about a choice he has made; a choice to partake of the so called "Forbidden Fruit". What's his response to God? "Not my fault." More liberally translated, Adam says, "Listen God. I was just standing around in Your beautiful garden, minding my own business. This woman, whom You gave me, by the way, comes up to me and gives me this fruit. I had no idea what she was giving me! I was just being a nice guy and took it. I didn't know it was from the tree You told us not to touch or eat...". It's kind of comical, except that it represents the fall of man and the introduction of sin into the world.

I think one of the more painful concepts in this story is the fact that God created the serpent who tested Eve. It even says "Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the LORD God had made." Given that God created the serpent, didn't He give it the craftiness, which is used to bring down Adam and Eve. The bigger question, did God purposefully put sin into the world? Did He intend for us to be tempted and for us to fall?

I suppose the cold, hard fact is that, yes, God created sin. God created all that is and ever will be. He is the Maker of all things, seen and unseen. He also knows all things happening in the past, present and future, for it is all His Plan.

Then why? Why would God put us in a situation where we can fall? Why would He allow evil in the world?

Even though in a previous writing I profess to know the "Meaning of Life", which some would say is a deeper question than the one of the reason for evil in the world, I'm not sure I can answer this one. The Holy Spirit seems to be hiding this one from me. The only glimpse I have of the answer to this question, as a brief flash in my peripheral vision, borders on something like, "It doesn't matter." Meaning, even though we have pain and trouble and misery at times in this world, when we pass into the next, not only will we understand why these things exist, but they will not matter. We won't feel them any longer. And, we will be with God for eternity, making the 100 years or so (we all hope!) we spend on this world seem smaller than the period at the end of this sentence.

Back to Adam... Maybe one way to look at his part in the story is to think about being careful. We never know when something may sneak into our lives, seemingly innocent and harmless, which could contribute to bringing pain to us over the long term.

This whole thing has me a bit perplexed...which is OK.

So, today, faithful reader, ask yourself the question..."why?" God wants us to wonder. Tell me what you think. Maybe the Holy Spirit will move in you and enlighten us all. But either way, we can relish in the mystery of Creation. And His Creation is perfect, even though sometimes we don't understand it.