Post #18 East of Eden...

Rob Bell's book, "Jesus Wants To Save Christians," begins with the story of the first family: Adam, Eve, Cain, and Abel. After Adam and Eve sinned against God things began to move further away from God's original intention. They left the garden, not only the literal example of God's intention for humanity, but a symbol of God's Shalom and love and perfect plan.

Later, Cain became jealous and angry towards his brother, Abel, because Able provided a more favorable offering to God. In his jealousy and anger, Cain killed his brother.

Rob picks up this though,

As a result of the murder, the text says, "Cain went out from the Lord's presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden."

East of Eden.

There is a place called Eden, a paradise, a state of being in which everything is in its right place. A realm where the favor and peace of God rest on everything.

And Cain is not there. He's east of there.

And he's not only east of Eden, but in Chapter 4 of the book of Genesis, the text says that he was "building a city."

It's not just that he's east of where he was created to live, but he's actually settling there, building a city, putting down roots. The land of his wandering has become the location of his home. And then several chapters later, the Bible says that the whole world had one language and a common speech "as people moved eastward."

The writer of Genesis keeps returning to this eastward metaphor, (Genesis 13:11-12, 25:5-6, 28:10-22, 29:1) insisting that something has gone terribly wrong with humanity, and that from the very beginning humans are moving in the wrong direction.

Many times the behavior of religious people is perceived as antithetical to God's intentions. Anger, racism, sexism, exploitation and greed are not the ways of God. However these same behaviors and attitudes are often at the center of people who claim to know God best. This has to change. We need to move back toward Eden.

How does religion play a role in moving us further east?
How can religion help move us back to shalom; back towards a more whole existence?