It is not enough to search for God, to strive to live a spiritual life, to seek. We must be searching in the right places. Sometimes I think that is the lesson we should take from the Genesis story of the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were looking for God outside of themselves, in the forbidden fruit of the tree. It is interesting that in Chapter two, that tree is called "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" (2:17). It is as if the author is trying to tell us that knowing good and evil does not equate becoming godly or like God. Knowledge does not of itself change us. We need more.
I wonder if the real reason Adam and Eve are removed from the Garden of Eden was not because they sinned, but because they failed to understand. God had given them everything they could want. Yet, with all their blessings, they didn't know where to look for growth. They thought it would come from something outside of themselves, from knowledge of good and evil.
By being cast into a harsh world, Adam and Eve actually had a better chance. Not having the comforts and beauty of Eden, their search turned inward. They realized growth starts in the heart with understanding, not in the mind with knowledge.
It is a lesson for you and for me. Perhaps we too fail in our search for God when things are going well and life seems blessed. Perhaps we want God in the fruit of success and the taste of accomplishment. And perhaps the difficulties we encounter are meant to help us retreat from searching there to lead us into our heart where we can seek to understand better. Perhaps when all is said and done, the Garden of Eden is not meant to be a beautiful place but a presence of mind and an attitude of heart. And when we find that spot in our heart where we retreat and reflect, maybe then we discover our own Garden of Eden, where God is close to us, and we no longer need to seek the Divine in the things outside.
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