Softer Gaze

Look. Do you see them? You have to look into the pages.
There they are, the man and woman in the garden. But look
softer. See, they are children with grown up bones, little ones
so fresh from God, a wide-eyed boy and girl who acted in
accordance with the way children are created: to trust.
So when the deceiver comes along we don’t hear an adult
conversation but rather the ominous notes in the seminal scene
of predator and prey – a child in harm’s way. Can you bear
to watch the rape in the garden? Can you begin to understand
the silence of Adam? Do you dare to ponder the wrath of God?
We are too hard on our parents. We don’t know the half of it.
 

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16 Comments

  1. Rain on June 20, 2013 at 12:50 pm

    thank you.

  2. patriciaspreng on June 20, 2013 at 1:01 pm

    You are on a roll… I hope you can hear us cheering you on. = )

  3. tonia on June 20, 2013 at 1:35 pm

    Yes, Lewis’ Perelandra changed this whole view for me. So good.

    • thebeautifuldue on June 22, 2013 at 12:12 pm

      Tonia, I haven’t read Perelandra…but maybe I’ll have to now.

  4. wynnegraceappears on June 20, 2013 at 1:35 pm

    there are so many mysteries so much hidden and not quite visible. beautiful as always. this makes me shudder.

    • thebeautifuldue on June 22, 2013 at 12:13 pm

      Thank you, Elizabeth. Yes, so very much is hidden…

  5. nwhannas on June 21, 2013 at 3:31 am

    I never looked at it this way. Thank you. So beautiful. So worth reading and re-reading. Love seeing God’s beauty and word through your eyes.

    • thebeautifuldue on June 22, 2013 at 12:13 pm

      Gretchen, its about the only way I can look at it these days. Thanks.

  6. nellskac on June 21, 2013 at 3:46 pm

    I’ve never commented (even though I believe I’ve read the full contents of this site) because I know I won’t be able to say the right things that will communicate the awe I have of your word-craft.
    But, you deserve to know that I thank you for the moving words!

    • thebeautifuldue on June 22, 2013 at 12:14 pm

      Hi, Nell. Thank you very much for your comment. I’m glad you found your way here!

  7. coffeesnob318 on June 25, 2013 at 4:18 pm

    I innocently stumble onto a blog, and here I am, weeping at work. This is beautiful. Thank you.

  8. Diana Trautwein on June 28, 2013 at 5:07 pm

    I’ve hit the sign me up button again in hopes that I will, once again, receive notification in my inbox of when you post these gems. Glory be, John. Goodness me.

  9. elizabethmbeck on July 1, 2013 at 5:48 pm

    This is beautiful… I have always found that the lens of compassion and empathy is a much safer, loving way to see the world. I have heard so many pastors be quick to hop on condemning Adam and Eve, but they were just children; and children have very little reason to distrust anyone. Thank you for this.

  10. Nancy on January 26, 2014 at 8:32 pm

    Do not become weary in doing good. This is so good.

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