Mis-Creation

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband,who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

(The Story of Adam and Eve)

I had always presumed that the Tree of Knowledge was about humanity's ascent to knowledge and consciousness that took them out of the subconscious bliss of just "being" that every animal enjoys. But there is more to the snake's temptation than just knowledge. Where God is, knowledge and wisdom reigns, so knowledge and awareness must already have existed when Adam and Eve walked the Garden of Eden.

Anyone who has children knows there is a day when innocence and naïveté is lost. It is a sad day indeed; as every spiritual traveler knows, the world our children experience is a correct perception, only it has to be rediscovered on a much higher conscious level after a long journey. Often decades pass - if this stage can be reached at all - before the innocence and bliss is regained. 

No, the act that expelled Adam and Eve must have been a conscious act of mis-creation. The step away from God - eating from the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden - is part of our tool-kit; the deliberate march in the opposite direction of love and spirit. Yet, once you have identified this problem statement it is as much in your power to reconnect. The snake may whisper but this time you remember God's plea to come Home. 

Says the Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh: "At any moment you have a choice that either leads you closer to spirit or further away from it." Never mind where your personal journey may have taken you, today you have a perfect opportunity to create with God. Rejoice, the Garden of Eden is yours and always has been. All you had to do was to wake up from the self-imposed slumber.