Genesis

Blame Game

/ JJS / 1 Comment

1452656920356

Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 89:1-18; 147:1-11, Genesis 4:1-16, Hebrews 2:11-18, John (1:29-34) 35-42

The story of Cain and Abel is the original tale of sibling rivalry. Cain, the first child of Adam and Eve, was a “tiller of the ground” and made God an offering of his harvest. His brother Abel was a shepherd, and offered God the finest of his flock. God favored Abel’s offering but not Cain’s, and in jealous anger Cain slew Abel with a rock. Instead of killing Cain, God instead banished him east of Eden and placed a mark of protection on him so no one else would kill him either.

Stories of rivalry are seldom so extreme, but Cain made a common mistake: when things didn’t go his way, he assumed the role of victim.

When God noticed Cain was angry because his offering was not respected, he asked Cain: “Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted?” Cain never stopped to ask himself (or God) what he might have done differently. Instead he directed his anger toward Abel. God had advised him: “And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.” As God predicted, blaming Abel for his failure led to an even bleaker fate.

Our reaction to failure determines the course of our future. Not being honest with ourselves about our own contributions to a failed effort can have disastrous results for ourselves and those around us. Even when we feel someone has taken advantage of us, we can ask whether and how we made it possible. This doesn’t excuse the other person, but restores our sense of control over the situation and prepares us for similar situations in the future.

We’ll never know why God  rejected Cain’s offer, because he didn’t ask. When we bungle a project at work or handle a family situation poorly, it’s tempting, easy, and human to blame the circumstances, a co-worker, or a spouse. Once that’s out of your system, you need to look inward. In any situation, you are the only person you can control.

Comfort: When you make mistakes, God is not waiting to condemn but to help.

Challenge: Reconsider a situation – from a time when you were an adult – where you blame someone else for failure or problems. Ask yourself what you might have done differently, and what could you do differently in the future.

Prayer: God, teach me to see myself as I am, not as I pretend to be. Amen.

Discussion: How often do you play the victim?

Join the discussion! If you enjoyed this post, feel free to join an extended discussion as part of the C+C Facebook group. You’ll be notified of new posts through FB, and have the opportunity to share your thoughts with some lovely people. Or feel free to comment here on WordPress, or even re-blog – the more the merrier!

Naked and Unashamed

/ JJS / 2 Comments

apple-1122537_1920

Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 42; 146, Genesis 3:1-24, Hebrews 2:1-10, John 1:19-28

“Who told you that you were naked?”

That’s the question God asks Adam and Eve when He finds they have covered themselves in fig leaves because they are ashamed. No one had to tell them; they knew as soon as they ate the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. What exactly about their nakedness was shameful? Minutes earlier it hadn’t bothered them – or God – at all. Perhaps it wasn’t the physical nakedness that shamed them, but the spiritual nakedness. That’s a lot harder to cover up.

Was there really anything special about the fruit? If God had commanded them not to sit in the Lawn Chair of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, the serpent would have reminded them how tired their legs were. It was inevitable.

Our reason for desiring “forbidden fruit” always seems solid … right up until we begin to pay the consequences. Like every human being, Adam and Eve already had the capacity for good and evil, but because they had not been disobedient, they did not have the knowledge of it. Immediately upon disobeying God they became aware of how deeply flawed they actually were. Like any one of us, they didn’t want those flaws exposed to the world or to God. Fumbling to conceal themselves only made mistakes more apparent. Whether or not we believe in a literal Eden, the story teaches us that as soon as we are aware of our disobedience, we feel separated from God.  The knowledge is not contained in the fruit, but in the bite.

It took a Christ who was willing to die on our behalf to reveal to us that God loves and forgives us despite our flaws. Our vain and impossible attempts at perfecting ourselves – our fig leaves – only further separate us from God, because we inevitably fall short and condemn ourselves. We’d be better off never having covered up at all. Christ invites us to drop the fig leaves and return to God on God’s terms – spiritually naked and humbly dependent. Christ uncovers our shame, and covers us in love.

Comfort: God loves you just as you are.

Challenge: In what ways are you still trying to prove yourself to God? How can you let go of these “fig leaves?”

Prayer: Loving Creator, I present myself humbly before you. I trust that you love me despite my sins and failures. I thank you for Christ who strengthens and redeems me. Amen.

Discussion: What tempts you? How do you feel after you give in?

Join the discussion! If you enjoyed this post, feel free to join an extended discussion as part of the C+C Facebook group. You’ll be notified of new posts through FB, and have the opportunity to share your thoughts with some lovely people. Or feel free to comment here on WordPress, or even re-blog – the more the merrier!

Telescope or Kaleidoscope?

/ JJS / Leave a comment

1452400078790

Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 104; 150, Genesis 1:1-2:3, Ephesians 1:3-14, John 1:29-34

The first Biblical account of creation tells the story of God creating for six days and resting on the seventh. That story is immediately followed by a second one that differs in detail but still ends with the first human beings in a garden paradise. When we recall the stories, we often blur the lines between them, taking a six-day schedule from one, a borrowed rib from another. The Biblical creation accounts don’t stop with Genesis. Proverbs, Job, John, multiple Psalms – these and other passages provide widely varied accounts of how God went about creating the world. How is it they can be so different, yet part of a unified whole?

The Gospels are similar. Each tells the story of Jesus from a different viewpoint, so they are similar but not the same. Studies show that eyewitness accounts are notoriously unreliable, yet sometimes our legal system still depends on them. The more witnesses who can corroborate key details, the better. A telescope is accurate but limited by its singular field of vision; a kaleidoscope gives us many angles of the same view.

Let’s consider our own histories. When we and our siblings or friends reminisce about childhood, we don’t all recall it the same way. Ever listen to a married couple tell a story jointly? There is quite a bit of give and take, argument and correction as they navigate their way through the tale. Witnesses, friends, or partners, they are all working toward finding truths that can only be reconstructed by layering multiple perspectives and insights.

When we dive into the big questions – Who am I? Why am I here? What’s it all about? – no single story tells us all we need to know. The compilers of the Bible were not concerned that the creation stories “agree” because that’s not the point. Even the “conflict” between Genesis and science disappears when we consider facts and truth are not revealed in a single snapshot, but in multiple exposures over a long period of time. If we insist that only one story is factual, we’ll never know which ones are true.

Comfort: We don’t have to have all the answers.

Challenge: We have to keep asking the questions.

Prayer: God of Creation, help me to value your truth more than my own certainty. Amen.

Discussion: Every family has its own mythology. What’s one of your family’s most meaningful stories? If you don’t have a family, what makes a story meaningful to you?

Join the discussion! If you enjoyed this post, feel free to join an extended discussion as part of the C+C Facebook group. You’ll be notified of new posts through FB, and have the opportunity to share your thoughts with some lovely people. Or feel free to comment here on WordPress, or even re-blog – the more the merrier!