The Fall of Adam and Eve. It is usual for all of us to think of the "what if" - what if Eve did not respond to the serpent, what if Eve did not eat of the apple, what if Adam refused the offered apple- so many speculative answers to this question. But what I've been asking for awhile now is "what if they said sorry" instead of fleeing and hiding from the face of God? How different would their fate and ours have been had they uttered a simple contrition.
My youngest child is a champion "apologist" (contrite person not theologian! lol). At the slightest hint of my displeasure at his transgression he will come running to put his arms around me and bury his face on my neck. Most of the time he also peppers my cheeks with kisses telling me he loves me and that he is sorry. And like a typical parent this action softens my resolve a bit. I know, I'm a sucker! My older kids are wondering why they haven't thought of this tactic first.
I have a limited capacity to forgive and to love. But God is infinite mercy and perfect love. His ability to pour grace to a contrite person will outdo whatever sort of forgiveness and clemency I can offer my 6-year-old. So I continue to wonder what our world would have been like if our first parents had the humility to say sorry. Alas, they did not so we toil and labor, we hope, we love and we keep faith, we fail and we ask for forgiveness and we learn along the way who God is for us.
"If I have grievously offended You, My Redeemer, let me not offend You even more by thinking that You are not kind enough to pardon me. Amen" - Saint Claude de Colombiere
This is a perfect, short piece to start back into blogging. It's so hard to say I'm sorry, isn't it? I laughed out loud about the older kids wondering why they didn't think of it first. :)
ReplyDeleteI am actually excited to post more regularly especially with Lent coming up. It's good for my brain to ponder and blog :-)
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