Daily Meditation: Friday, August 21, 2009

In the book of Genesis, it is said that after Adam and Eve …

08/21/2009

In the book of Genesis, it is said that after Adam and Eve had eaten the forbidden fruit on the suggestion of the serpent, they hid from the Lord as he was walking through the garden in the cool of evening. God calls to Adam, ‘“Where are you?… Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.”’ One tradition tells how the fruit eaten by Adam and Eve was an apple; another says it was a fig… it doesn’t matter which. What we must understand in this text is that the temptations we succumb to can be compared to the food we take in. The serpent, which is a personification of evil, tempts Eve by suggesting she eat the forbidden fruit; after that Eve suggests the same thing to Adam. And when God asks them what has happened, Adam accuses Eve and Eve accuses the serpent. In reality, blaming your faults on a tempter (or a temptress) is no excuse. If we have acted badly, we are guilty. We just shouldn’t succumb, shouldn’t ‘eat’, that’s all, and then we will not be ashamed to face the Lord whenever he asks us, ‘Where are you?’