Scripture References:
Genesis 2 (Creation of the man and woman; “It is not good that the man should be alone”)
Genesis 3 (The serpent, the fruit, judgment, and exile from the Garden)
Adam opened his eyes and looked around, taking in everything. “Creation,” he whispered to himself. “Beautiful,” he murmured as he admired the tight rows of flowers of many shapes and colors.
His attention was drawn to a section of the flower row that was moving. Somehow, Adam sensed they should not be moving because there was no… he thought the word might be “wind.” Curious, he took a step closer. Suddenly, a head popped out and looked at him.
Adam burst into laughter. “My friend!” he cried. “So cute you are!”
Tears of joy streamed down his face. “You must be a bunny,” he said aloud to… to… nobody.
Nobody.
A sudden feeling of emptiness overwhelmed him—a feeling he couldn’t name. Adam turned to find Abba. Abba would know what to do.
After Adam explained everything, Abba simply smiled. “Adam, it’s okay. You are lonely. No, it is not good for you to be so. Rest now. When you wake, you will not feel lonely anymore.”
When Adam awoke, she was there. “By Abba’s right hand!” Adam exclaimed. “Isha!”
She turned to him and smiled. They spent what felt like an eternity gazing into each other’s eyes. Those were the eyes Adam would remember later, you know, then. Her eyes remained the same, but everything else had changed.
Adam looked down at the fruit in his hand. How did he get here? The juices of the fruit dripped along his finger, stinging his skin as they fell to the ground. His lips burned. And his cheeks. And his chest. Everything burned with an unbearable intensity! But was it just his skin that was burning?
Adam could no longer sort through his thoughts. They were too many, too dark—thoughts of what he should have done, what he could have done. And then that feeling again. What was it called? What did Abba call it? Loneliness? How could he feel lonely? Isha was right beside him, and they were one—never to be apart. Yet, everything was different now. They were different.
Abba was standing there. Had he asked them a question? Adam heard his own voice responding about Isha, but it sounded as if it belonged to someone else, someone distant.
Then Abba turned to the Nachash, the serpent, then to Isha, and finally back to Adam. “My son,” he said with compassion and tears, “You must leave now.” Tears welled up in Abba’s eyes. “You have broken the world I created for you. Now, it must be fixed. Take your wife, be happy, and go live. But this world… this world needs mending. I will be there to help you when you need it, but it will be different now. And one day, when the world is finally fixed, I will come again to walk with you in the cool of the evening, just as we did before.”
Used with permission by the author. Find the author’s complete works online: Complete Works of Mack Samuels
