Word to the Wise
Wednesday, February 9, 2011 - Wednesday in the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
[Genesis 2:4b-9, 15-17 and Mark 7:14-23]You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From that tree you shall not eat; the moment you eat from it you are surely doomed to die.
Scripture scholars have long demonstrated that the first five books of the Bible are like a great cable - a single reality that is made up of various strands tightly interwoven. The Book of Genesis is a good place to see this form of story telling in action. Chapter 2 of Genesis is another story of the creation but it has a different purpose. It brings us to another of those ultimate questions about life: the problem of sin and evil! We get only the beginning of the story today, but there are some important features to note in preparation for the rest of the story tomorrow.
We are introduced to the "garden of Eden." This location for our first parents has become a synonym for any ideal place of peace and pleasure. God places the first human there. Note that the man's complementary partner has not yet been created. But the man discovers that the garden comes with some responsibility. God warns the man not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Thereby the story of human psychology and moral decision making is introduced. Even with almost every need provided for, the human will be tempted with the one thing that is forbidden. But before that choice is made, God will provide a companion to the man. That will occur tomorrow. For now, we can meditate on why it is we can't seem to "count our blessings" and accept the fact that there are some things we cannot have or should not do no matter what. Why would we forget the blessings and choose an attractive curse? Our answer to that question can give us a lot of insight! AMEN
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