When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. (Genesis 3: 6-7)
Beach Week. Every morning, we haul half of what we own down to the sand. We plant our umbrellas in the hot breeze, and our faithful shorties gather, slathered in sun block and demanding juice boxes and cheese nips—the manna of Food Lion. And then they scatter to their childish pleasures—each one uniquely hard-wired into them. I have a sandcastle builder, a critter catcher and a kite flyer. They do other things, but these are the things in which they become lost to themselves and their surroundings. In these pursuits they are oblivious to both the mild dangers of the beach and the minimum standards of human interaction. Holding tight to her end of the string, eyes on the fluttering pink plastic above, my kite flyer would walk right into the path of the beach patrol four-wheeler and right over the blanket of our neighbor. But that is why WE are there right? Well-trained sheepdogs that we are, we only have one eye in Stieg Larsson, the other is on them.
How sweet our Lord is. He hard-wires us for simple pleasures, and He provides us both the means of their pursuit and the venue within which they can be safely pursued. But, we are fallen. So it cannot last forever. I know the day is coming when my kite flyer will not be able to hold her string without thinking about how she looks doing it. Like Adam, like me, she is going to be Knocked Conscious. Without Faith, this Consciousness would drive me mad. Without Hope, that He will welcome us back to the garden of our innocence, this Consciousness would make me desperate. Without His Love, what a mad and desperate man I would be.
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