Adam The Garden

by Don Hatfield

loving us enough to offer a way out of the chains.

  “And the Lord God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and keep it.”

  How does one dress and keep paradise? How does one tend to perfection? There were so many things to do. Did you know that lions liked oranges but could not reach them? I discovered this one morning when one of them was standing under and orange branch on her hind legs with outstretched paw. I gave her and orange and she laid down and put it between both her paws and began to eat it. Needless to say she was waiting there for me under the orange tree every morning. Sometimes I would throw it and she would go chasing it. That is how I began to learn, dress and tend the garden. I learned that fish loved to eat the petals from the flowers especially the roses. Often I would gather petals and take them down to the river and feed them to the fish. I would take figs which by the way turtles loved and plant them where they could be reached by the turtles while in the process of growing. Yes, I learned to plant in the garden but it was not as it is now. I was able to communicate with the animals so much easier and I had their help. I trained groundhogs to dig holes where I would plant the vegetables and fruit. I trained elephants to carry water in their trunks to water it. I trained pelicans to carry fruit in their beaks and drop it in the holes to be planted. It was a sight to see. Days filled with laughter as I worked with those who purpose it was to please me. While I pleased the one who had given me the purpose of pleasing Him. I used my hands and body in all of these pursuits while my mind was free to commune with my Father. It was joy not toil. It was fellowship with the one who designed me to enjoy all that He had made for me. What a sad difference now. There was no hurrying. There was no worrying about drought, frost, insects or diseases. It was God’s gift to the one that He loved it was Eden. It was paradise. It was home.

  "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying of every tree of the garden thou may freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shall not eat of it: for in the day that thou eats thereof thou shall surely die.

  Both trees sat on top of different hills. The tree of life was pure white with a fruit that I never tasted. The fruit was in the shape of a pine cone while the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was a dark gray color. It was almost black. Its fruit was in the shape of an orange. The hills were separated from one another by a wide valley. Both hills were steep but at the top they flatten out. I stayed away from the tree of knowledge of good and evil for God had said not to eat from it. Once I climbed to the top of the hill where the tree of life was and walked around it but I did not partake of its fruit. As I look back on it I think that the reason that I did not was that I wanted someone to eat it with me. Although at the time I did not realize that.

  “And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature that was the name thereof.”

  I woke that morning with the oddest feeling and after looking around I understood why. While I was sleeping the Lord God had all of the animals gather around me. To my surprise and amusement they had formed a circle around me and were staring at me. I began to laugh with delight at my Father’s sense of humor. I knew in my spirit why He had brought them to me. To think that He would entrust me with such a task as to name the animals. One by one they came before me. As I would name them they would make a noise that was peculiar to them. For example when I named the cow he mooed and took off as if content with his name. Soon the whole garden was alive with their sounds. A few days after I had named all the animals another amazing thing happened. I again woke to a strange sight. A kangaroo was standing in front of me and two eyes were staring out of its stomach. I got closer and looked down in its pouch and discovered a baby kangaroo. Then almost every morning thereafter another animal would bring its young up for me to see. A monkey brought her baby clinging to her back. A lion carried a cub in her mouth. I went to sleep wondering and asking my Father if I would ever have children of my own.

  "And the Lord God said, it is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib which the Lord God had taken from man, made He a woman, and brought her unto the man.”

  When I saw her to say I was stunned would be a great understatement. My Father in His love had made a mate for me. She was bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. We would cleave unto one another and become one. She was woman because she was taken out of me. Our lives became one. There was no jealously for there was no one to be jealous of. There were no comparisons for there was no one to compare the other too. No lies, no stealing, no adultery, no immorality, no killing, no strife, no idolatry and no death. What was there? Peace, grace, kindness, meekness, gentleness, joy, long suffering and love. Day after we would roam the garden exploring its delights. At night we would lay under a canopy of stars wrapped in each other’s arms. At sunrise we would thank our Father for each other and His many blessings. Often at sunset His Spirit would visit and commune with us. We would tell Him of our day. He seemed to delight in our innocent exuberance. One night as we laid under the stars we talked of the two trees in the garden. After much discussion we decided that we would partake of the tree of life the next day. I would taste of its fruit first and then I would share it with her. We fell asleep in each other’s arms trying to imagine what would happen after we tasted from the tree of life. When I woke up the next morning Eve was not there however this did not concern me. Often if one woke before the other we would get up and leave the other one to finish their sleep. I went about my daily business of taking petals down to the fish and giving food to the animals. When Eve did not return after I was finished I decided that I would go and look for her.

  “Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.”

  Was the serpent created bad? No, he was just shrewder than the others. By shrewd I mean that the serpent had the ability to understand things more than the other animals. How he was so fooled I will never know but somehow he was. For in allowing evil to creep into his understanding he also transgressed our Father. I will tell you of the events that followed as Eve my mate told them to me.

  “And he said unto the woman, yea hath God said ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden. “

  Eve told me that she woke up that morning and I was still sleeping. She then went down to the river and washed and came back and I was still asleep. She decided that she would go to the tree of life and wait for me there. She knew that I would look for her there since we had decided to taste of its fruit that morning. As she approached the two hills she saw something glimmering on the hill where the tree of knowledge of good and evil sat. She decided to go up the hill and see what it was. When she reached the top the serpent was there but the glimmering object was not. She asked him about it for he was able to converse in a crude way. He could not talk as we could talk but he was able to converse. Instead of answering her question he posed a question to her asking, “Yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden. Eve said she answered in this way, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it lest ye die.” Eve then said that the serpent spoke and said, “Ye shall not surely die.” She said that she just stood there speechless for no one had ever before questioned what God had said. A silence followed and then the serpent said, “For God does know that in the day ye eat thereof then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as gods knowing good and evil.” Eve said that after he finished saying that the fruit began to glow. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the tree of life and there seemed to be a gentle breeze caressing its branches as if it was saying come over here.

  "And when the woman saw
that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree to be desired to make one wise she took of the fruit thereof and did eat…”

  Eve said that she knew that she should be over on the other hill for it was dark and gloomy on the hill that she was standing on. She looked again at the tree of life and the sun was shining on it. It looked pure and she said that it had never looked as white as it did in that moment. She said that she actually started to take a step to go down the hill and over to the tree of life. When she did that the serpent whispered in her ear, “ye shall be as gods.” However, when he whispered his voice sounded different. It was much clearer than before and instead of a stammering hiss it gave off sinister low pitched sound which penetrated down into her soul. She again turned back to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and its fruit glowed even brighter. The longer she looked the brighter it got. She again heard a whisper before you go to the tree of life have some food for the hill is very