Word to the Wise
Friday, February 11, 2011 - Friday in the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
[Genesis 3:1-8 and Mark 7:31-37]But the serpent said to the woman, "You certainly will not die! No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is evil.".......
Read this story today carefully. Pay attention to the persuasive arguments from the serpent. Imagine the tone of voice and the weakening of the listener! It starts something like this: "C'mon now, did God REALLY tell you not to eat from ANY of the trees in the garden?" There is a kind of "Gimme a break!" tone to this, as if Eve is a victim of a plot to keep her and her mate from something they really ought to have, especially from that one tree they were forbidden to touch or eat from. "Sure, God just doesn't want any competition, because if you eat from that tree, you'll be like God!" Oh yeah? Why did they try to hide from God, then? It's clear their new consciousness is not something they're comfortable with.
The plain lesson from Genesis today is that the human is NOT God! God doesn't have to plot against us to keep us from becoming God! We can't be God no matter what, no matter what we eat or do or think! We're just stubbornly proud enough to think we can replace God and we fall for clever arguments that promise everything and deliver nothing. The results are uniformly disastrous, and then we're foolish enough to believe we can hide from the God that we thought we could be!
The Book of Genesis is not a quaint piece of ancient literature. It is God's Word and God's voice speaking to us through the ancient stories that show profound understanding of human psychology. For us today, it may not be a piece of fruit. It may be the temptation to power, sex, substances, belongings - whatever! None of it is going to make us like gods! Once we learn that lesson, we can concentrate on remembering that God still considers us to be good - foolish and proud, but still good! AMEN