The Two Trees, part 1

So don’t burn me as a heretic.  I’m not looking to spout some new Theology and I’m definitely not looking to rewrite the standard understanding of Christianity by changing the original sin story.  That being said, I’ve had a thought process that, like a string in a sweater, I can’t help but pull at a little, if nothing else just to see where it goes.  So let me pull a little…

Come with me back to our beginning, somewhere deep into the garden of Eden.  It’s a beautiful day in a timeless place.  That is to say, technically I suppose there was time, but what was its meaning?  There was no death to mark it’s passing.  There was no degeneration to observe it’s passing and not point of conflict to dictate it’s constant ticking away.

At least not yet…

How long has it been before this story resumes?  How long since the time when dust became flesh?  How long a path to this sun kissed dawn?  A week?  A thousand years?  Does it even matter?  The fact is, the day in question is here.

Here we stand as only observers in the middle of this vast paradise.  Above us looms two trees.  One is the Tree of Life.  Let’s leave the discussion of that tree for another day.  Of the two trees, one is our past, and the other is our future.  Let’s first look towards our past, shall we?

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  There it grows.  What’s so special about this plant?  What fruit does it bear?  I know the popular telling shows it as an apple, but c’mon… I’ve never really been that tempted by an apple before.  Perhaps if it was apple pie?  Mango… now that would be a temptation!

Really, it wasn’t the fruit itself that was the temptation.  It was what the fruit promised.

Knowledge… beyond what they had.  The kind of knowledge that promised to put us in the realm of God himself.  The secrets of the universe only one bite away… only problem was that the Creator Himself forbad it

Yet, why?  There was no gates blocking us.  There was not mote separating the tree from the rest of the garden.  There it hung in the early dawn sky and none to hinder a quick bite of rebellion.  Just a quick decision and a quick action.

And that’s what it all comes down to for me… decision and action.

Other than the blood of Jesus, the most powerful gift given by the Divine at our disposal.

Decision.

We know what happens.  I’m not here to recite the well worn tale of mankind’s plunge into the darkness of disobedience.  Rather, let me start the tug on that string that, true or not, will lead us into a way of having to face our own guilt on the issue of sin.

I’ve often thought, “what was it in that tree and it’s fruit that lead to the magical properties?  What could lead mankind from the bliss of obedience to the weigh of knowing the existence of evil in a perfect world?  Knowing God’s way of working supernaturally in a natural world, what was the catalyst that opened our brilliant minds to a new modality of thinking?  Was it an enzyme unknown before?  A poison?  A chemical?

Or was it nothing?

What if that tree was nothing more than any other tree growing in the garden?  Oh, maybe the fruit was special… very tempting and juicy.  What if the tree itself was nothing more than the everyday miracle of created things, simply standing there and bearing it’s fruit when commanded?

What if it was simply a tree?

Ok, don’t let me lose you know.  Let’s pull a little more thread.

Was the tree special?  Yes.  That I’m not debating.  But here’s my question…

Why?

What if it was special simply because the Creator said it was special.  Remember, the Word of God is the creative force of the universe.  So the tree became the tree of the knowledge simply because of the will of God.  Yet, where was the real potency of the result?

What if it wasn’t in the fruit?  What if it was in the decision? …the decision and the action.

The moment Eve’s mind was set on the path she would take, and the moment Adam followed in her footsteps, what if that was the moment our minds were changed.  The choice of disobedience was the choice that allowed sin to enter this plane of existence.  It was the moment of rebellion against the Lord of the universe.  It was the downfall of humanity in this original story plot.  The bite into the fruit (the action) did nothing further than seal the deal of the choice that was already made.  Perhaps it was the choice to rebel against our Creator that showed us the nature of good and the nature of evil.

Perhaps it was in us all along.  That wouldn’t be unprecedented.  God created the angels perfect, and yet one was able to convince a third of them into an all out rebellion in the heaven’s itself.  They too seem to have had a choice.

So perhaps the tree itself had special properties in it’s make-up, or perhaps the poison was simply the result of the choice, and the result of the action.  Either way the choice was made by them, and the choice was made by you and the choice was made by me.  Remember, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”.  We made the same choice as Eve and Adam.    We bit the same fruit.

Yet, there is another choice to be made, isn’t there?   You see, there was another special tree in the garden.

Did you forget about that other tree?

Let’s start talking about that other choice, shall we?

(…to be continued.)