There Was Eve And There Was Mourning

My mom gave me a book called, Eve's Song last time she visited us.  It is an allegory about Eve's life and her relationship with God, Adam, and her sons as seen through several of Eve's memories.  So far, it has been very moving....I had to put it down to let some of it sink in yesterday when Adam and Cain lost their crops to drought and wild birds....it's all starting to show how the curse of sin became a reality to them.  A reality that we live in everyday, but they were just beginning to experience and the contrast between the two different ways of life for them.  And there is a part where Cain and Abel make offerings to GOD that was so moving to me. I wondered how interesting the book would be because I feel like I have heard the story of Adam and Eve, or told the story so many times to kids that I doubted the author could bring anything new out it....but she definitely is.  She also has flooded the book with scripture and poetry (which I love), but she works it into her pages naturally as so many of Eve's memories include spiritual songs....psalms.  At the end of each page, she has so many references of where Eve's ideas came from for that page....who she understands God to be....how she got to where she is....how He is redeeming her and calling her back to a relationship with Him....and the joy she finds through it all.

I always like names and meanings and have been fascinated with God's use of them throughout scripture.  Like Adam means "man", but also "earthen" and "made"...and Eve means "life", "breathe" and "life bearer". Eden means "place of pleasure" or "delight".

 
Ironically, the "life" in the garden was the first to introduce death to all men through sin.  Haven't we all, at one time or another, been TOTALLY TICKED at Eve?!  But, then we ladies usually feel the need to defend her by accusing Adam (and all males, naturally) and the battle of blame begins just like it did in the first garden.  So, how would we fare if we were the first?  Would I want to be in Eve's shoes?  (Even though she probably didn't wear any shoes :)  No, thanks!

The gardens in the Bible are such interesting places.  The scenes that unfold in them are paramount to our spiritual lives.  My whole "wedding garden" thought from walking around my yard the other night, coupled with the book I am reading right now has started me into a study of the gardens in the Bible.  Gardens pose as places of serenity, but the gardens in the Bible seem to be places of ultimate showdowns of good verses evil...in a garden there is always evidence of life and death.  I feel a theme coming on :P  I know that makes you happy too. So, yes....there was EVE and there was mourning.

But, my mind goes back to Audrey Hepburn's quote...."To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow" What does that mean for us if GOD planted DELIGHT for us to live in....I'd say He has some plans.