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The serpent was clever, more clever than any wild animal God had made. He spoke to the Woman: "Do I understand that God told you not to eat from any tree in the garden?" The Woman said to the serpent, "Not at all. We can eat from the trees in the garden. It's only about the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, 'Don't eat from it; don't even touch it or you'll die.'" The serpent told the Woman, "You won't die. God knows that the moment you eat from that tree, you'll see what's really going on. You'll be just like God, knowing everything, ranging all the way from good to evil." When the Woman saw that the tree looked like good eating and realized what she would get out of it - she'd know everything! - she took and ate the fruit and then gave some to her husband, and he ate. (Genesis 3:1-6 The Message)
Imagine God sending you a letter like this:
My dear child, It was in the days of your innocence that you were visited by fascination, imagination, and freedom. Images were all blurred together in beautiful patterns; all the colors, and all the shapes, and the breeze! Yes, the cool breeze of the afternoon. This was life. This was perfect life. And it was in the cool of the day that you and I would dance; the slow dance of discovery. I would tell you things, and you would imagine them and the possibilities of yet other things. I would say I loved you, and you though not yet fully knowing what love was, sensed it was good, and you said you loved me.
You walked the entire garden, knowing it as your own yet not knowing it was paradise. The lush greens of the grass, the bright green of the trees dotted with the oranges and reds of fruits; all yours. Yours for the taking. If you ever felt hunger, you picked and ate. You had not a care in the world, save one; the trip you made to explore the area you came to name "The untouchable place." You knew you could eat freely of any tree, and you did, yet you had to see it, this untouchable tree. Its fruit seems as ripe as any other, yet it called to you for some reason. But, you walked away, content to know that soon it would be the cool of the day and you and I would dance again.
The day came when the heat of the day seemed more intense. You sought shelter under the shade of a big tree. You sat there and marveled at all that was around you. Then out of the corner of your eye you caught its movement. Not one of the other creatures in the garden frightened you, not even this, what seemed to be a dancing serpent, that musically made its way towards you. It swayed to a rhythm no one could hear only it. Yet, its patterns called to you, and you stood. Your body mimicked the body of this serpent and soon you were dancing with it; not touching it, but close enough you could hear its whispers. A soft, soothing voice that seemed more like the smoothness of a brook; you could hear it and you were not afraid. It questioned you on many things and you answered with joy. "Do I have it right?" it asked, "that you cannot eat from any of these luscious trees?" No, you giggled, We may freely eat of any tree; there's only one we're not supposed to eat from and neither are we to touch it. Your mind gave you that about the touch; I never forbade your touch on the tree; but you had played it so often in your mind that it became yours. Then you shared truth though you were not sure about it; We cannot eat nor touch it because on the day we do, we will die." Die? Death? Did you honestly know what that meant, my child. I knew you did not; yet the voice of the serpent made you wonder what it was really all about.
"Die!" exclaimed the serpent, then it laughed. "You won't die! That's a life! The only thing that will happen is that your eyes will finally see and understand all about this garden and life; that's the only reason you've been told not to eat from that tree." It sounded convincing. "You will become just like God. You will know all things, and you will know the difference between what's good and what is bad." That made you look again at the tree. Yes, you thought, the fruit did look more enticing than any other; and what harm could it bring to know more things that you knew now. And with the confidence given you by that dancing serpent, you danced towards the tree and with a swift move removed a fruit, bit it and ate. The dance was over.
Eradio Valverde
