Curiosity Killed Humanity?

Sorry, no song stuff to post today, I've got other stuff "on the bean", as my good friend Alan Kemper used to say. What's churning is this... I've been thinking about the fall lately. That cliff dive from the heights of grace and love, into the pit of supposed self sufficiency and vacant promises. As I muse, I'm just struck by the sheer insanity of it all while at the same time, trying to reconcile the fact that given the opportunity to walk between the trees, I'd be making apple pie soon enough as well.

So I guess to be more clear let me lay out my thoughts....

It seems to me that being with (as in close proximity to) God solves all of our problems inside and outside.

Our problems on the outside are that we need food, water, air, protection from sharp objects or blunt objects moving at rapid speeds, etc, etc. Our problems on the inside are that we need love, stimulus, purpose and knowledge (and probably some other things but I'm just too lazy to think about what).

But God being on the scene with us solves these problems. He can create food/air/water, he can ensure safety, being our creator he can imbue our souls with love and purpose, not to mention endless stimulus and knowledge. So that certainly begs the question, "What the crap was the problem?"

Why in the face of all that, did obtaining "knowledge of good and evil" seem like a good idea?

NOTE: This is not an attempt to enter the debate as to whether Genesis is literal or figurative, so if you have doubts or questions about whether or not there was an actual "tree" or "garden" I'm asking you suspend your disbelief for a moment for the sake of... whatever, do it for my sake.

Anyway, my take on the above question is this. I think curiosity + imagination + time will always lead us back to the tree eventually.

Let me explain. You see, like they say, cats are curious. Our two stupid cats are hilarious. We've been getting lots of boxes lately. Cribs, swings, car seats, 75 pieces of clothing of which I will have to return 72. So anytime we get something that is housed in cardboard, its only a matter of time before one or both of the cats are in the box exploring its every crevice. They MUST know what's in there. I made the mistake one time of letting them climb up the ladder into the attic with me, and now they sit in the hall under the pull and moan like shamu until we either let them up there or spray them with enough water to drown them.

They are curious creatures, but they don't have imagination; meaning they are not creating nonexistent scenarios within their minds of what could be in the attic. It's not like they are looking for ancient cat artifacts or canned tuna. They just know there is unexplored, uncharted territory, and they want to explore it.

We however are not so fortunate. If I ever want to surprise K8 the LAST thing I will ever do is to give her any hint that she will be surprised. Because if I do, she will invariably create some amazing scenario that ends up making what I actually do look like frickin bread crumbs in comparison. Our ability to imagine and create things that do not exist are in my opinion a huge part of what actually separates us from other animals. It could be the evidence of the image of God within us. But I believe it was also what brought all the pain and despair into our world.

Explanation: I believe that pre-fruit we were simply observers of our surroundings. Much like other animals, we took in our surrounding. However, we obviously had the ability to communicate with language and exercise creativity. On all matters of judgement between what was morally good and evil, we simply looked to God for the answer and trusted his judgement.

Example:

God: Hey Adam, its not good for you to be alone.

Adam: For real? I'm not really alone, I mean you're here... I like you.

God: Oh. Right. Yeah, that's a good point, but sometimes I like to go do my own thing. You know, go grab a beer, shoot pool, dive through black holes... its really not your "thing". It's not you, its me, honestly. I'm just going to make someone for you to hang out with when I'm not right beside you. Trust me, you'll like it... her.

Adam: But I think I like beer...?

God: Go to sleep kiddo.

I'm not saying at all that we just observed EVERYTHING. In the same what that animals learn from their mistakes, I'm sure we did as well. Ouch. That hurt when I stuck my hand in the leopards mouth. That is a bad idea.

But in regards to questions of intent, meaning WHY something happened, or the motive behind it. We were incapable of making those judgements.

Example:

Adam: Hey God, why is there water falling from the sky? Eve said it was you crying because of something I did...

God: No buddy, that's just rain. There's a whole cycle that I put in place that makes water fall from the sky, pretty cool huh?


This is a bad example for several reasons, but you I hope you get the point.

But can you imagine that? Not wondering, or asking why life's events happen to you, but simply observing them and being able to ask God what the other persons motives were, instead of attempting to judge for ourselves?

And I imagine that life was so sweet and peaceful and fulfilling there, but unfortunately, time was rolling on.

God said, "Don't eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because if you do, you will surely die."

And in that moment a seed was sown. "Oh, I wonder what kind of tree that is." "Hmm. I wonder what part of the garden its in." "Interesting, I wonder why God would make a tree we weren't supposed to eat from?" "I wonder what the fruit tastes like?"

But all of these questions and wonders, were A. void of any moral judgement [i.e. this is good or bad] and B. 100% answerable by God.

So it came down to a matter of trust. Would the humans use their freedom of thought and choice to trust God, or would their curiosity and imagination get the best of them and eventually lead them to "just try it" for themselves.

And don't forget they had help. Sure the serpent lied and misled Eve, but more than that he piqued her curiosity to an insatiable level.

Genesis 3:6: When the woman saw (observed) that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye and desirable for gaining wisdom (she had no way of know that, so at this point she used imagination), she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

And the important thing to note is that Adam and Eve were not condemned because they made the "wrong" choice. They had no way of knowing what was good and evil in and of itself. They were condemned because they specifically disobeyed and did what God had already told them was wrong.

So what changed?

Well, I imagine it went something like the change from how Kenneth sees the world, to how Jack sees it...



Well, not exactly with dollar amounts on everything. But I imagine there was this sudden onslaught of feelings and emotions that were all tied somehow around value. All of a sudden they had been put in the judgement seat. And the world would never be the same. They looked down at their own bodies and were ashamed of their nakedness? Why? They were probably flooded with all of the thoughts that we have about our bodies. Does this measure up? Is my butt fat or just round? Why do I have so much chest hair? Is it normal to have that much chest hair? Surely it can't be normal for your chest hair to connect to your armpit hair. Sick. I'm an animal. I might as well have cloven hooves.

And their first inclination was to hide. I sure know what that feels like. Hmm. I've got more to say but this is too long already. But what do you think? Does that make any sense?