THE COOL OF THE DAY

Recently I was reading part of Genesis, in particular the aftermath of Adam and Eve falling to the temptations of the serpent. (Gen 3:8 ff). Here we get a glimpse of God as a person. He is walking in the garden in the cool of the day enjoying the delights of creation; the birds singing; the perfume of the fresh flowers; the joy of living things.

We read that Adam and Eve heard God as he walked in the garden. I wonder what sound He made. Surely there would not have been the crunch of gravel under His feet, or the crashing of bushes as He made His way through dense undergrowth. I like to think of Him as singing softly to Himself or perhaps talking to the flowers, the birds and other creatures; yes, even the insects; not chastising but lovingly.

Then God called to Adam, “Where are you?” Oh, God knew exactly where Adam was and what he had done; He was giving Adam the opportunity to admit his sin and turn to Him for forgiveness. Perhaps that was the real reason that God had chosen that time to walk in the garden.

God did not rush in and accuse Adam of his wrongdoing like an angry policeman. He allowed Adam to make his first excuse; ‘I heard you and was afraid because I was naked!’ Of course that was not the real reason for Adam’s fear – he was afraid because he had disobeyed God and feared the consequences. He probably thought that God’s anger would boil over and destroy him; he had not yet learned the mystery of God’s love.

After a little more gentle coaxing from God, Adam tries to wriggle out of his predicament by saying “It wasn’t my fault, it was Eve.” And so the blame is passed down to Eve and thence down to the serpent. All God wanted of Adam and Eve was “Yes, we’ve disobeyed you and we are sorry. Please forgive us and give us another chance.” It is only after all opportunities have been rejected that sentence is pronounced. But, even then, God ‘clothed the naked’ before casting them out from the garden.

Does all this sound very familiar? No, I don’t mean have you heard someone else making excuses and trying to shift the blame onto other people or circumstances? I mean we have done it ourselves. We are truly Adam and Eve’s children; we, too, are lacking in trust in God’s loving forgiveness. We, too, are naked before the Lord; not naked in the physical sense as Adam and Eve were, but naked spiritually. We try to hide from the truth of our failings and try to convince ourselves that “it was not my fault!”

Surely, when our conscience troubles us that is God ‘walking in the garden’ waiting for us to approach him and admit our faults. But it seems so hard! There seems to me to be a bit of an analogy here with the priest sitting in the confessional, when perhaps he would prefer to be enjoying ‘the cool of the day’, waiting for penitent souls to seek forgiveness. Or maybe we have hardened our consciences if not our hearts.

Wilf Eggleston