How did we get ourselves into our Dire Predicament in the Valley of Tears?
How did we get ourselves into our dire predicament in the Valley of Tears?
The story of Adam and Eve is viewed by many as a child’s fairy tale with little or no relevance to us today. Its lesson is judged too simple and, hence, too well-understood, to deserve any further serious contemplation. It is taken for granted. Few sermons are preached about it. Yet, the story of Adam and Eve is the sine qua non to an understanding of our dire predicament in the valley of tears and God's plan for our salvation.
The serpent, jealous of God's love for us, tried to extinguish it. Surely, the serpent reasoned, if he could induce Adam and Eve to opt out of paradise, their ingratitude would extinguish the bonfire of love that burns for them in the heart of God. Surely, the scope of God's love does to extend to ingrates.
Therefore, the serpent testified to us that we would become gods without God in the valley of tears (Genesis 3:5). The serpent's testimony was the sugarcoating that embellished the valley of tears. God testified that, in the valley of tears, we would die (Genesis 3:3). No embellishment here.
There was a conflict in the testimony.
Newly minted humanity had never encountered testimonial conflict. This was their first time. They were confused. As rational creatures, they knew that the testimony of both God and the serpent could not be true. Yet, their only experience was with reality. They were neophytes with regard to illusion. This was their first encounter with illusion. So, they decided to conduct an investigation for themselves. They would determine for themselves what was the reality and what was the illusion. Thus, they left paradise and entered into godlessness.
Fools pass through the valley of tears without God and alone . The wise pass through it with God and in a pack. Our pack is our Church. The flood in the biblical story of Noah is an example of a cross that nails itself to us as we pass through the valley of tears. Noah aligned himself with God. He survived. The others who passed through the valley of tears on their own without God perished. Noah prepared for the crosses that came his way by aligning himself with God. So should you. God's pedagogy is not for sissies. It is severe for those who do not learn its lesson.
The Pedagogy of the Valley of Tears is Severe
Adam and Eve, instigated by the serpent, rubbed two sticks together and ignited a fire. And their children are trapped in the fire screaming for help in the midst of the flames.
Yet, our God does nothing. He watches us burn. God does not immediately drag us out of the fire. Nor does God lower the heat of the flames. "Help!", "Help!" the children of Adam and Eve cry out from the fire. Yet, our cries fall on deaf ears.
Or do they?
At first glance, our God appears cruel, diabolic and sadistic. How can our God who supposedly loves us and has the power to do something about our dire predicament do nothing while we burn in the fire? Is there an explanation?
Our preliminary conclusion about the savage cruelty of God arises because our conception of rescue is different than God's conception of rescue . While trapped in the fire, the exigency of our dire predicament focuses our minds on the cost of the fire and on nothing else. We just want to escape from it. God, however, sees both the cost and the benefits of the fire. God wants the fire to transform us . The serpent was just lying to us. But God wants the serpent's testimony to come true. God wants us to defy the fire as "God" defies the fire.
Only when we achieve a better understanding of the benefits of the fire does our opinion of the cruelty of God change.
What are the benefits of the fire?
1) the likelihood increases that we will keep the gift of paradise of our own free will when God delivers it to us. God does not want to transform paradise into a prison, himself into a warden and us into prisoners. A cage is still a cage no matter how gilded. God wants to give us the gift of paradise and wants us to keep it. He does not want us to drop the ball. He does not want the gift of paradise to slip through our fingers as it did with Lucifer, as it did with the gaggle of angels who follow Lucifer, as it did with Eve and as it did with Adam. The fire teaches us the same lesson that the pig sty taught the prodigal son. The prodigal son is never going back there and neither are we. Our experience in the fire teaches us that the flames are hot. The heat of the flames shatters the illusion that sugarcoats the sourness of the valley of tears. When the illusion is shattered, our rationality kicks in and instructs us to flee from the fire.
2) the fire drains the serpent's lie of its power to deceive. We learn for ourselves that we do not become "gods" without God in the fire. The serpent's testimony embellished the sourness of the valley of tears with a sugarcoating of godhood. The testimony was false. He lied to us. Anything said about the fire is rejected that is contrary to our experience there.
3) the fire challenges us to use the tool of mitigation that God gave us. Why would an allegedly cruel God give us a tool to mitigate the harshness of the fire? Giving us a tool to mitigate the harshness of the fire is a philanthropic act that contradicts the notion that God is cruel. A cruel God does not bestow such a blessing on us. Yet, God did. Jesus hung from his Cross to teach us how to hang from ours. When you hang as Jesus hung, cling as Jesus clung, love as Jesus loved. Hold tight and refuse to let go of love, suffering's invincible foe. Love is the tool with which we shield ourselves from the fire as we pass through it. Love is the grease for the wheels of our passage through the valley of tears. Love kicks suffering's ass. If we refuse to use the tool of mitigation, is there anyone to blame but ourselves?
Indeed, the pedagogy of God is severe . Letting us stew in the fire is medicine - harsh but effective medicine.
The Valley of Tears is Hostile Territory
Who is to blame for our dire predicament in the valley of tears? Blame the serpent. The serpent conjured up an illusion that distorted our perception of reality. The illusion sugarcoated the sournessness of the valley of tears. The sugarcoating with which the serpent embellished the valley of tears was testimony that we would become gods without God there. God testified that without God in the valley of tears we would die. The testimony was in conflict. Adam and Eve decided to resolve the conflict in the testimony themselves. So, in pursuit of godhood, they risked death. It was a bad bet.
With the help of the serpent, we got ourselves into trouble. Who will get us out of trouble? Who will rescue us from our dire predicament in the valley of tears? In whom do we hope for salvation? From the moment Adam and Eve ran away from their home with God in paradise like foolish children, God has executed his rescue plan. He did not delay. He did not wait. He began executing his rescue plan immediately. He wants us to return to our home with him and his holy family in paradise and wants us to stay there. When God gives us the gift of paradise, God wants us to keep it. He does not want the gift of paradise to slip through our fingers as it did with Lucifer, with the gaggle of angels who follow him, with Eve and with Adam. God does not want the children of Adam and Eve to fumble the ball. However, to accomplish his goal, God does not want to turn paradise into a prison, himself into a warden and us into prisoners. A cage is still a cage no matter how gilded. God wants the children of Adam and Eve to accept the gift of paradise and keep it of their own free will. God plans to deliver the gift of paradise to us just as God delivered the gift of paradise to Adam and Eve. God will not be less generous with us than God was with them. Adam and Eve were the first beneficiaries of God’s love for us. They were not the last. God’s philanthropy did not end with Adam and Eve; God’s philanthropy began with them. This is good news of great joy - very good news for us indeed.
In the interim, however, the harshness of our passage through the valley of tears, our cries, sighs, mourning and weeping leave our lips . They reached God's ear and melted God's heart. In his mercy, God took steps to mitigate the harshness of our passage through the valley of tears. How does God mitigate the harshness of our passage through the valley of tears? What does a better job of keeping our crosses at bay than the riches of the rich man ?
Jesus hung from his Cross to teach us how to hang from ours. To mitigate the harshness of our passage through the valley of tears, don the yoke of love . Love is the grease the lubricates the wheels of our passage through the valley of tears.
When you hang as Jesus hung, cling as Jesus clung, love as Jesus loved.
Hold tight and refuse to let go of love, suffering's invincible foe. Love, not riches, kicks suffering's ass. Our natural instinct is to let our crosses poke a hole in our hearts and drain them of love. We, however, have the option to refuse. We can deny ourselves. We can reject our natural instinct . We can cling to love, hold tight and refuse to let go as Jesus did. Without love, our crosses mire us in the valley of tears. Our crosses try to make us settlers with roots sunk deep into the valley of tears. We are meant to be pilgrims passing through the valley of tears not settlers. The valley of tears is not the place to stop to smell the roses. Mobility not sessility is the mark of a member of the new exodus passing through the valley of tears from slavery under the yoke of Pharaoh to freedom with God and his holy family in the promised land. Only love turns you into superman with the ability to pick up and carry your crosses so you can continue to make progress towards paradise. Love lightens the load. Applying riches, not love, to your crosses only weighs you down, thereby impeding your progress to paradise. Riches make you sink in the valley of tears. Travel through the valley of tears with the lightness of love. Love enables you to soar like an eagle through the valley of tears .
The valley of tears is a mill through which the grist is ground up for a lifetime.
Did the Son of God pitch his tent amongst to us to make our passage through the valley of tears harder or to make our passage easier? When he suggested that we deny ourselves, what did he mean?
Suffering is not the problem. The problem is the monstrous dragon that prowls amid the suffering. The dragon tries to drain our hearts of love. Our job as we pass through the valley of tears is not to avoid suffering - to run away from it like a coward. Nor is our job to seek suffering. Our job as we pass through the valley of tears is to slay the dragon that tries to transmogrify us into the most misearable and hideous of loveless beasts as Jesus slayed his. Only when the dragon is slain does our passage through the valley of tears get easier. Only with love in our heart can we pick up our crosses and make progress toward the kingdom of God.
The Son of God suggested that we deny our tendency to let love slip through our fingers - to fumble the ball. He did not pitch his tent amongst us to make our passage through the valley of tears harder. He pitched his tent amongst us to make our passage through the valley of tears easier. One of the purposes of his mission to us was to show us how to mitigate the harshness of our passage through the valley of tears. He demonstrated the solution to the problem of suffering. As we tortured and killed him, he clung to his love for us, held tight and refused to let go. Love, as Shaekespeare said, is twice blest. It blesses both the donor and the beneficiary. Love is the grease that lubricates the wheels of our passage through the valley of tears.
The problem in the eyes of God is not suffering. In the eyes of God, suffering is neither here nor there. The problem in the eyes of God is the monster within us who instructs us to let love slip through our fingers as we pass through the harshness of the valley of tears. God fashioned a solution to address the problem as he sees it. God did not fashion a solution to address the problem as we see it. We want God to extricate us forthwith from the harshness of the valley of tears or to transform the valley of tears into a gentler, more hospitable place for godless people to live. God, on the other hand, wants us to learn the solution to the problem of suffering and apply the solution in our lives. So God lets us run the course, finish the race and complete a lifetime in the valley of tears .
What is worse than suffering?
Is there anything worse than suffering? Yes. A monster lurks amid our suffering. The monster has the power to transmogrify us into the most miserable and hideous of loveless beasts. It can destroy the resemblance that we bear to God. It can drain all of the love out of our hearts. A heart without love is worse than a person who is suffering. The valley of tears is hostile territory. As we pass through the valley of tears we encounter the monster within us. The encounters are opportunities for us to become heros by clinging to love, holding tight and refusing to let go. Victory belongs to those who keep love in their hearts. Defeat belongs to those who let love slip through their fingers - who fumble the ball. God does not extricate us from the valley of tears as quickly as we would like to give us the opportunity to become heroes. The challenge is to cling to love, hold tight and refuse to let go as we pass through the valley of tears. This is what Jesus did. He hung from his Cross to teach us how to hang from ours. We tortured and killed him. He suffered and died. Yet, he emerged from the dead still alive and still in love with us. He did not stay dead and he did not stop loving us. His love for us survived the evil we did to him. This is the crux of Christianity. Everything else is obiter dictum. The union of infinite power and infinite love for us is our God. Infinite power and infinite love for us knitted together constitute our God.
When the testimony about the truth is in conflict, believe the witness with the bloody wounds rather than the witness without them.