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Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Heaven On Earth
A 15th century poet asks us all to thank God for Adam and Eve's "fall from grace" in the Garden of Eden.
If that catastrophe hadn't happened, s/he said, then God would never have sent his Son to save us.
Not exactly the way I would put it; but the poet does have a point.
Tradition says that "in Adam's fall we sinned all." That is, the first man and woman were all we had in terms of a bond of loving trust between humanity and God. Our fate was in their hands. And, for who knows how long a time, everything went swimmingly. It was heaven on earth, complete with evening strolls with God to top off each day.
But one sad day temptation won out. The garden became a jungle. Adam and Eve hid from God (good luck!) but were smoked out to admit, "We decided we just wanted what we wanted, and we wanted it now, regardless of what you'd like us to do."
Their relationship with God was broken. So was their relationship with each other. And their inner relationship to themselves. Till then Adam could look at Eve and see God's own image, and vice versa, but now it was like staring at a cracked mirror.
Then came the baby Jesus, Christ the Lord, Immanuel -- "God With Us."
Such titles say that once again heaven came down to earth.
And all the stories about grown-up Jesus say he undid the damage of Adam's original sin, by consistently choosing to want what God wants above anything else.
At the beginning of his ministry, he says three fast No's to the devil's temptations. (See Matthew 4:8-11) On the last night of his life, in another garden (Gethsemane), he wrestles with wanting to avoid death but ends up praying, "And yet, not what I want but what you want!" (Mark 14:32-36)
St. Paul even called Jesus a Second Adam (in Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15), who sparks a whole new creation. At long last, Jesus got it right!
And it all began one cold winter night when a baby was born in a borrowed stable. No wonder the angels sang loud and long about the good news!
Whenever you and I give in to temptation, we're repeating the pattern of Adam and Eve way back there in the garden. Every time we side with Jesus, we replicate his pattern of agreeing with God. The more we do that, the clearer our reflection of God's image, the less cracked our spiritual mirror becomes.
Okay, poet; that really is a whole new reason to sing "Merry Christmas!"
posted by Jack Buckley at
3:18 PM
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