Eden’s recovery

Bosch GardenThis week we are reading from the Book of Genesis. I am convinced of what Saint John Paul taught: we need to work –with God’s grace– to work on the restoration of of the initial experience of what Adam and Eve experienced. Consider a study of his Theology of the Body. After Eden we fell from grace pretty hard. The pre-Fall is what God desires for all of us. AND, this is what has been granted to us through the Paschal Mystery of Christ. What Jesus did on the cross and at the resurrection our ears and mouth were opened so that the goodness of creation is made known. Our bodies were once again the center of salvation.

The Biblical narrative is familiar: the Garden of the fruit, of which we were not to eat by divine command. But, is it so much that Adam and Eve ate the “forbidden fruit” at the “forbidden picnic” (a term coined by Bishop Richard Sklba) as much as it is accepting the great lie “that the divine origin of human nakedness is no longer good.  Hence, they become at odds with their Creator.” The fruit at the center of Garden represents the respect and promise of God as Father of all creation. Life in God is no small and insignificant experience: it is true, good, and beautiful.

After Eden

If only I could return,


to feel your hands
            calm and
serene
            fashioning me in your image,

to hear your voice
            tranquil and easy
            breathing
over me,

to see your eyes
            fervent and beautiful
            revealing yourself to me.

I
promise:
            this time,
            I will not be afraid.


Brother Jeremiah Myriam Shryock, CFR
Third Year Seminary Student (2010)
Saint Joseph’s Seminary-Dunwoodie, Yonkers, NY