Back To The Garden?

THURS., DEC. 15, 1988, 6:57 AM
#L3 LANAI, ABACO

The Garden of Eden is the symbol of the innocent, easy life. It is a life without choices… a life of quiet, gentle obedience. As most generally conceived, after a hard, struggling earth life, heaven is quite like this original Garden. In some ways it is an appealing concept, and so I have offered it to most human groups, in one form or another.

The question this morning is… is it a proper motivation to go back to the Garden? Is this a deserved reward for earth life? In a more current sense, most of the other folks here at this resort are strictly on vacation. In some ways this is like a garden, a combination of practical living, man-made landscaping, and some natural vegetation. The sea is close. It is a place of some beauty. And many people here have nothing to do but enjoy the garden. Work & responsibilities have been left behind. Work has produced means, and these are being used for enjoyment.

You are unique in that you have work to accomplish here. You can go in and out of the Garden, but you have a proper sense of dedication to this project. You have no resentment that you have this task, and you can enjoy and profit from the time that is available. This is a good work setting for the work that you have to do.

The more fundamental question, however, is whether “back to the Garden” is a proper goal for most humans. To say that it is rather common does not mean that it is proper. Does earth life always deserve a reward? Does accepting Jesus as the Christ, Lord and Savior, bring an eternal reward such as “back to the Garden”?

The orthodox Christian answer to this is rather hazy, but still quite bi-polar. That is, acceptance of Me as Lord and living life in a pious fashion means that, at the death of the body, you go to heaven, with nothing to “do” for eternity except enjoy My presence and perhaps sing a good deal. There are no responsibilities, no goals, nothing that has to be done… and you are eternally grateful for and accepting of this return to the Garden. The other result, from non-acceptance of Me, is an eternity in hell, where you burn and suffer, but do not perish. And yet there is nothing to do… no responsibilities and no choices. In this sense it is like the Garden, a good side to the grim picture.

Now I won’t deny that either of these are possibilities for life beyond earth. Some people expect either of these “garden” destinies, and they are not disappointed. Remember, though, my interpretation to you of the Eden story, now several years back. I told you that I wanted humans, obedient and innocent as they were, to get out into the world I had created, make choices and be responsible, even for poor choices. I had to devise a way to get them out, but I am resourceful, and I did it with a proper sense of fun (a talking snake, yet).

Accept this as a symbolic tale and see where it leads. I have told you repeatedly that the purpose of life is spiritual growth. And this is not limited to earth life, for spirit survives physical death, most certainly. Some persons do experience earth lives that are harsh, demanding, painful, degrading… these deserve some time in the Garden, but usually only those poor in spirit accept this. Some may want to “process” the hard life past and truly gain as much as possible from it.

Some come across expecting hell, and they have this experience. Some soon see that there are other alternatives, and they move on to realms more productive. “Productive.” Is this the proper term? It means going on to develop your spirit, with more paths than are available in earth life.