The Knowledge of Good and Evil

Wow. December really got the better of me. At least as far as blogging goes. It was actually a rather quiet month but in our house it has been loud. We like to say it is because we have three boys but we have friends with even more boys and their house is quieter. So I am thinking at some point we have to admit it is probably our parenting, our letting the boys be loud. For the most part I tune out the noise. At least I think I do, but the noise creeps in and pushes any real thoughts out. And yet, here I am. Blogging. With a thought to share.

I am reading through the Bible again this year but with a larger group of women from our church and also with some friends on Facebook and anywhere else I can pick up another reader. And since I am one of the leaders I thought I had better actually start on time and get my reading done tonight. We are going to read chronologically this time which I think will be fun. So today, January 1st we start at the very beginning.... a very good place to start.

As I was reading the creation story, a story I am very, very familiar with, I was struck by something new. This is why I love reading the Bible just as it is without study questions or looking for a theme or a point.

Today I was struck by Genesis 3:6 - 7 which says,

"So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths."

They ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and suddenly they realized they were naked. They had been naked the whole time. They had never felt a need for clothes before. Genesis 2:25 says, "And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed." But then they ate the fruit of knowledge and suddenly not only were they aware that they were naked but they had to cover themselves in some way. How weird that must have been to be perfectly happy as you were and then in one quick moment become disenchanted, afraid and ashamed.

I have noticed this same phenomenon recently with my boys. They are perfectly happy with life and then something clicks in them and they become afraid of things that never used to bother them. They go from being able to sleep in the dark with their door closed to wanting almost all the lights on in the house before they can walk upstairs. Little One keeps asking me if monsters live in our town. He is very concerned about monsters all of the sudden. I keep telling him no, monsters don't live in our state. But I know the truth. I am older. I am wiser. And I know that monsters really exist.

How I wish I could go back to the time before I knew. Before I knew that there is a reason we are scared of the dark, that people do die from illnesses or accidents. Before I knew that some people are just plain mean. I wish I could go back to before I had eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

I am sure Adam and Eve felt that way. I am sure they wanted to turn back the clocks to a time without worry, without embarrassment without fear. As we read at the end of Genesis 3, Adam and Eve had not eaten of the tree of life. They had no need. They did not know death. They had plenty of food to eat. They did not have a desire to live forever because they knew nothing but life. And now because they knew, God drove them out of the garden of Eden so they could never eat of the tree of life and live forever.