Day 5 – Sunday March 13 2011 - Yearning for God

Find in your bible the book named Genesis (first book of bible) chapter2: verses 15 – 17
Lent traditionally has been a time of self-examination and of self-denial, a time of asking forgiveness so we can become closer to God. Hence here we have a creation story that seeks to explain why evil exists in the world and why we are separated from God. Traditionally, we have read this story as the story of the fall of humanity from the golden age of Eden where humanity lived in harmony with God and the earth. And traditionally we have used this reading to blame women for bringing sin and evil into the world.

But maybe we should read this story from a different perspective, a perspective that is not so concerned with morality but with the existential fact that we feel separated from God. God’s creation is good, but the very act of creating means that we separate ourselves from that which we have created. A child grows up and makes their own way in the world, words we have written are set free to be interpreted in a different way by a reader, ideas are shared and evolve into something else.

Maybe this is a story about growing up, about that natural loss of innocence and growing awareness that there is pain and suffering in the world which in turn leads to a greater hunger for harmony, for justice and peace – a yearning for God. And maybe as humanity evolves and grows we are ever more aware of our separation from God and from our planet, maybe a re-writing of this for our time would speak of the Tree of Knowledge as our discovery of fossil fuels and electricity consumption, greenhouse gases and global warming.

Maybe the Tree of Knowledge represents our willingness to be open to the pain of this world, to see the reality of our lives where relationships with one another and our planet are not as they should be and a seeking of practical wisdom for life that has the potential to bring creativity and blessing.

Clare McBeath
Openshaw Baptist Tabernacle