It’s no accident that the creation accounts in the story of Genesis make specific reference to a garden.
The garden providing the ideal environment for human to flourish
The garden is a prelude to nature, not wild, but tamed.
For as much as you may romanticize nature, it can devour you.
Because man then, was not made for the wild
But neither was man made to be confined to an artificial reality, under some illusion of safety and security.
For in the garden, the serpent still lurks, so one must still remain watchful.
Reconciling your relationship with nature, your relationship with your own nature and its own capacity to be subject to wild inclinations – works very much in the same way.
It too will eventually devour you.
Succumbing to your own temptations, your own will, without regard for the consequences is the beginning of the great fall.
So the Garden of Eden, is in fact the yin and yang.
Man’s ideal state.
Nature within the confines of a garden.
Providing the safety and security you seek, but also all the nourishment you require.
Safety, with a hint of risk
Order, with a hint of chaos
Predictability, with an element of surprise
Stability, with the lure of temptation, helping to build your resolve
A garden, an honest reflection of the fruits of your labor.
But your garden left to its on devices, left untended, will in time grow wild
And should you continue to neglect it, you will, without doubt, eventually find yourself completely lost in the wilderness.
