The serpent plants the first doubt: “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
I had a moment of enlightenment when I realised that this wasn’t just about disobedience. The story was really about suspicion and distrust.
Maybe God is holding out on me.
Maybe He’s not as good as He says.
And this moment is all of us as we grow up out of childhood.
We start off as babies trusting completely. We rely on caregivers for survival. But when we become 2 or 3, we begin to lie. Not because we’re taught, but we discover it somehow..?
As we grow up then, we begin to sense what we can or cannot do. We find out the boundaries.
Will I be punished if I do this? Can I bend the rules and get away with it? If I tell the truth will I get hurt?
Our Eden moment of “Did God say…?” becomes “Do I really have to tell the truth?”
We doubt God’s word and promises. We crave autonomy and want to be God.
And when we get caught, we shift blame like Adam:
It wasn’t me. It was her. It was You. You gave her to me.
Unapologetic and protecting ourselves. We think it’s for survival.
When asked how Fulton Sheen knew people weren’t taking advantage of him, Sheen replied, “I can’t take the chance” that they might be in genuine need.
A few days ago my husband gave $10 in cash to someone who knocked on our door asking for money. Said it was for charity.
I was shook. You WHAT? How did you know it was legit? What website was it?
I would never have handed over that cash so easily. I just don’t trust people who ask for money. My default assumption is that people could be lying and shouldn’t be trusted.
That person in the street walking up to me is probably going to sell me something I don’t need.
What kind of person am I if I doubt everyone who asks for help?
So maybe that’s what the Fall really was.
It’s not about eating the forbidden fruit. It’s the exact moment we stopped trusting? We stopped becoming innocent and naive.
Maybe the braver, riskier thing is just to believe, like what C did.
Like Fulton Sheen, knowing there’s risk but choosing to hope anyway.
To give, and let God decide if the recipient did good with your gift.
Even if it occasionally funds someone’s KPods addiction.
No Comments