Reflection

The first humans enjoyed a shameless nakedness. Although Adam and Eve were completely vulnerable, they had no need to hide from God’s gaze or from that of the other. They knew that God’s gaze celebrated them, loved them, rejoiced in them. They knew one another’s gaze was one of gratitude, delight, and appreciation. Because there was no malice in the other, they had no need to be ashamed. They all lived in peace with one another—what the Old Testament calls shalom.

All of that changed with the advent of lust, which seeks to grasp after what God has not given. Lust brought fear into our relationship with God. Though God provided an abundance of fruit-yielding trees, Adam and Eve suspected that God was holding out on them. This began the long history of humans taking something that is not ours, whether it be land, resources, or human bodies. But when we remember and long for our original state with God, we repent of our entitlement, envy, lust, and rivalry, and we work to restore shalom. While we might not go around naked, we work to restore an Edenic peace that marks us as God’s children.

Action (Pray)

Think of someone with whom you are experiencing conflict or disagreement, or think of a situation of conflict within your church, neighborhood, city, or nation. Pray for peace for that person or situation. You might find the following counsel from The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous helpful:

We realized that the people who wronged us were perhaps spiritually sick. Though we did not like their symptoms and the way these disturbed us, they, like ourselves, were sick too. We asked God to help us show them the same tolerance, pity, and patience that we would cheerfully grant a sick friend. When a person offended we said to ourselves, “This is a sick man [woman]. How can I be helpful to him [her]? God save me from being angry. Thy will be done.