Students often want to Paint Adam and Eve in their egg tempera icons and I was certainly reminded of old Adam and Eve in a recent sermón I listened to.
Bishop William Gregg at St Paul’s Anglican in San Miguel Allende gave another insightful sermon, first week in Lent. The first reading was from Genesis.
The silly story we all know about snakes and trees and perfection. What did Eve and all of humanity get invited to learn from that sneaky snake who suggested eating from the tree of good and evil would change things for the better. This archetypal story illustrates the movements of the human heart and mind in a simple narrative, one often overlooked. However, with a little bit of reflection, you cannot help but question, Why are we left to struggle and sweat for things done and left undone?
There is a clue to the answer; When our eyes have been opened to the idea we have a choice, there is no turning back into innocents. It has been set up and sealed. Ultimately, each and every individual will be held accountable for our own actions.
One the one hand, we think we can see things clearly, from God’s point of view, Yippi! On the other hand, our understanding and love of thinking we are God, can lead us and others away from goodness and into the realm of darkness and fear. Knowing good and evil demands that we see our actions through careful investigation, before and after each and every action. I do not know about you, but sometime I want to go back to sleep, close my eyes.
We all make decisions because we think we have power, and we do. The thing is, our activities are our making and according to the story, God will NOT intervene. God has given us free will, another Yippi! We get to live with whatever or wherever our focus is… on us and ourselves OR on God.
Absolute perfection is built into creation and the question is; How do we come to see God’s perfection in creation and what can we possibly add to it? Why not try egg tempera icons and painting one to see what kind of ideas you come up with?
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