Bob the stylist, said to Michael the Archangel, “Tell me again about this garden of Eden.”, Michael had just stopped in to have his wings and hair touched up for a big conference that evening.
“Well see we created this star and some planets around it, and we decided to put some life forms on one of the planets. Now bear in mind that when I say ‘we’ what I mean is that God did it but we helped. Of course He could have just snapped his fingers, but He knows how much we enjoy crafts, so he slowed down and let us help.”
“So once we had the water and the land all sorted out, you know, mountains and valleys, rivers and seas, all that stuff, He decided to make some life forms. So we (He, actually) made a lot of the stuff we’ve made before in other worlds, but then we made a really neat animal, and called him ‘man’. God even made him a special place to live called the Garden of Eden, which was perfect … but you know, come to think of it, the whole planet was perfect, so I’m not sure why the garden was needed. He probably told us and I just forgot. Anyway, this man creature was really a pretty nifty critter. God gave him a boatload of intelligence, all flesh based, but still?! It was pretty cool. He gave him a lot of capacity for reason, but unlike with us, He didn’t give this man creature a whole lot of facts. I guess God thought it proper for this man creature to accumulate knowledge by trial and error. So man was not created fully actualized.”
Michael went on, "For a bit we thought God had forgotten something (When will we learn?) but after a bit, He made a companion being for the first man, and He called it ‘woman’. I guess He was just having some fun with us.
“Now you know God doesn’t ever do anything but what He does it right, so He made both the man and the woman perfect in all ways: proportions, desires and attitudes, self-repair systems, procreation systems, etc. Nothing that wore, or aged was without its own built in repair mechanism. It was really a very clever, perpetually self perfecting system.”
But here, Bob interrupted Michael and said, “Yeah, that’s it. Now I remember what was bugging me about the story. It’s that perfect business. That’s what bugs me.”
"How do you mean?
“Well, I mean how it all turned out, if it was so perfect to begin with.”, said Bob.
“You know, Bob, He doesn’t make mistakes … ever. So the problem must have been with this man creature.”
“Yeah I know. It has to be. But that bugs me too. I mean we know He didn’t goof when He made them, so the problem has to lie with the man, but if it does, where did the defect in the man come from?”
“Don’t let it eat at you Bob. You know as angels we’re created as fully actualized beings. We’re essentially all that we’re ever going to be on the day we are created. This man creature is not. He grows and changes.”
“Perfect creatures don’t grow and change to do imperfect things do they? I mean, if the perfect thing decays, you can say it wasn’t really perfect, can’t you?”
"Hey, careful with those scissors, Bob!
“Oops. Sorry about that Michael, I get carried away talking sometimes.”
“No prob. Now like I told you Bob, He doesn’t make mistakes. It’s probably not good for you to even think that way.”
“But Michael, you did know, you have known all along that I would be bothered, so how can it be wrong for me to question?”
“Remember Bob, this man creature can choose – he’s not like us – he can choose what he wants to do. We can’t.”
“Oh yeah. I keep forgetting that.”
“You feel better about it now, Bob?”
“Yeah … I mean no. Now I remember what it was that was bugging me. Here it is: Why would a perfect being choose to do something bad?”
“Well, because he’s free to choose, I guess”, replied Michael.
“Yes, he is free to choose … but if he’s perfect, wouldn’t he only choose to do good, even though he could theoretically do bad?”
“Well Bob, it seems like it should work that way, but …”
“Is God free to choose?”
“I would think so. I mean He’s God after all.”
“But God, being perfect, does He ever choose to do bad?”, said Bob.
“Well, I don’t think so Bob, but I know some of the humans are very smart and they argue over that question.”
“But Michael, as far as you and I have observed, doesn’t God only and ever do good things?”
“Yes, as far as we know.”
“So God is perfect and He’s all powerful but He doesn’t do bad things as far as we angels know. So all I can think is that being perfect means being perfect in your desires as well as your actions. Can we agree that the desire to do bad comes before the actual bad act?”
“Well Bob, I think in some way the desire in and of itself is a bad act.”
“So Michael, that’s what killing me. How did the bad desire get into the man? He was created with good desires, no?”
“Well, I suppose he was Bob.”
“I think so too, Michael. I mean he had to have a desire to do all the good things necessary to sustain life. The first man could not have had the bad desire in him to kill his wife, or the man and woman could not procreate, so clearly man was given a good desire in that sense, wasn’t he?”
“Yeah Bob, that seems reasonable.”
“So Michael, I don’t know where the bad desire came from if man was perfectly created with perfect desires. Do you?”
“No I don’t, Bob. Hey that’s a nice haircut, Bob. What do I owe you?”
“Fifty spranardzia, Michael.”
“All right. See you in a couple of weeks, Bob … and try not to think so much buddy – your brain may explode. Just kidding, your brain is perfect no?”
Bob chuckled and replied, “Good one. Next time you’re in I want to ask you about that serpent in the Garden. What was he doing there in the first place if it was a perfect garden?”
“Take it easy on that brain of yours, Bob. I’ll catch you in a couple.”
“Hey Thanks, Michael. Back at ya.”
copyright 2013 by Brent Farwick