Designed for the Garden

"Man was made for the garden." This is a phrase that has stuck with me for days. I can't get it out of my head since I first read it in my morning devotional from my iPhone Bible app. While pulled away from the whole text of the article it paints a nice picture of a man, tilling straight rows to sow seeds for the vegetables his wife will can in Ball jars to line their pantry for winter eating.

What the author, R.C. Sproul,  meant was that the original design of mankind was created to live in THE Garden; the perfect garden with no stress, strife or hard labor. He purports that our DNA lends us to reliance on a larger, supreme being for sustenance. Immediately, my mind wandered to this scenario; a beautiful manicured lawn, with lush vegetation, and of course  soaking tub in the midst of the gloriousness. I know the tub is not biblical, but really, Adam and Eve HAD to bathe and who knows, it might have been in the plans.

More than likely the garden would have been more like this... beautiful, lush, no bath tube and lots of critters running around. My desire for a bathtub in the midst of God's perfection is an indication of where mankind goes wrong. We always want to improve on what God offers but we want God to pony up the improvements. God was going to give us all we needed, right at our fingertips. BAM - our first home improvement, another menu item on the already overflowing buffet. 

We wanted individual dwellings, fences, modes of transportation, chemically modified enhancement of items found in nature. Yet we want God to perfect these changes and fix us when we break down due to our cravings. Why can't we be satisfied with what god gives us? Why do we want more and more and even more?

Which came first the chicken or the egg? We are taught that mankind is depraved due to the Fall but there had to be a level of depravity in Adam and Eve's make-up to desire to have more than God was already offering. Right? 

What I wonder most (and have absolutely no answers) is could it be that while we want what we want and many of us are even willing to work hard to have "things" God's true intent has been for us to only take what we get all along. Let me give you a more down-to-earth real life sized example. Every time we drive by this car

he says "Hashtag, first car." And I reply, "Hashtag, dream on." Why? Because, even if we could afford it,  (or more importantly, he worked hard to get it) he is still a sixteen year old driver and it would be expensive to insure, and dangerous for him to have that fast of car. We now that so we will say, "no." But we are much more micro managing that God. He allows our free will to obtain that which we think we need if we find a way to get it. The question is, is it the Garden He wired us for? How often do we miss the entrance to the Garden because we are busy hunting for and improved version. 

I guess I need to get more acquainted with God's Garden plan for me. I need to set my sights higher. Not to a bigger dream or a bigger goal but to a Higher Power, One who will give me what it best. 

What Do I See?

The title of this blog is, "What I See...".  The title speaks to my penchant for people watching and how they interact with others and life. Often my grandprincess, Sassy, is used as an example to illustrate "what I see" in myself and/or others but I have used other members of my family or various plants, animals, etc. No one and nothing is safe!

What I see in the world challenges me. Glimpses of life challenge me to think about what I see, what I know and what I believe. What I see in the world today is glimpses of many people listening to others...many others...speaking,  some loudly, some with charm, others with rebellious passion. But as I peer, like a voyeur, into these provocative platitudes, I don't perceive challenge; thoughts to stimulate the hearer to think, ponder, wonder and grow, sifting through the words and ideas to see what is illuminating to the hearer. What I see is more of a a sorting; "I like this", I don't like hearing this". "These thoughts feel better."

What I see isn't necessarily the truth. That is why I wrestle with the thoughts, concepts and ideas in hopes I will, through prayerful discernment and scriptural understanding, eventually hit the mark of God's truth. But by shear definition, a blog is my opinion, not fact. 

What I see is:

• People moving farther apart than working to come together. Divisive spirits control our thoughts. The desire to be right is more important that coming to a productive agreement that could move us forward. Division holds us back.

• People trying to color the world back or white. While I am not speaking of race, unfortunately, recent issues in the world have fallen in that particular arena. All police officers are not filled with fear and hate for every black person and not all people of color (any color includung white) are innocent. Life and the character of people is not black or white.
  
  
  

• That we like listening to the voices that confirm what we believe rather than the voices of those that challenge what we think. Politicians, pastors, friends that are "yes men" or play into our fears repeat the same pre-conceived notion we have already been telling ourselves. 

• Bad behavior or mean spiritedness is tolerated in the guise of humor. "We were just teasing." Hard messages need to be served with love, not hidden within sarcastic humor in the name of satire. Making poor choices should not be written off as, "It was all in fun." Because often the consequences fall on other innocent bystanders.

• We hold everyone to our standard instead of looking how we can live up to God's standard. We forget the whole log/speck part Jesus said. In doing so we make assumptions about people that may or may not be true.

• What we think has become our god and then God is shoved into that mold. This is backwards thinking. The Lord should be our God and He should be allowed to form our thoughts. I wonder what would happen if we actually, REALLY, bounced our opinions off of Scripture. (see Sermon on the Mount)

These are just a few of the thoughts I see. Many of them I see in me. Are they in you as well. Look and see.