Paradise Found!
Paradise is not lost! We are lost if we cannot see the paradise that lies before us. Adam and Eve symbolically eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil was only the first time we thought we knew the mind of God. Ironically, arrogance (which is the poison fruit) comes from knowledge with the ignorance of a larger knowledge of our limitations. When gaining knowledge, it is easy to loose our humility, and to think that we know everything about the subject. Because of the knowledge and the power that we gain from it, we may think that we are superior and can use the power in any way we wish, forcing our beliefs and will on others or wrecklessly altering the symbiotic balance of our earth. Certainly we have seen the rise and fall of religious sects and individuals who have arrogantly claimed that they had the answer. They set themselves up as little gods through which all others have to pass in order to reach God.
Beware when a man says that “God said”!
It is the fruit of the tree of knowledge that is poison, not the tree. We set ourselves up as little gods through the arrogance that comes from a tiny bite of knowledge. It is the arrogance that makes us feel naked and ashamed of our bodies because it reminds us of our connection with all the other living things on the earth. It is the arrogance that makes us deny our mortality and assert our dominion over the earth, rather than harmoniously sharing in its diverse bounty.
We must always be on guard when learning, no matter the subject (there are many trees of knowledge, not just the one of good and evil). It is the arrogance that will ultimately damn us and our paradise into nonexistence -- unless we take an antidotal dose of humility. We must humbly remember that we cannot know all, and that we could be wrong about what we think we know. Through humility we can once again find our lost paradise and live in harmony with all things on the earth. Truly the meek and humble of heart will inherit the earth.
Dan Bowlds
