Alternatives, Part One: Beginning and Middle

 

Hey, Cobblestone,

     When my kids were in grade school, I noticed some of their story books to come with alternate endings. Goldilocks made the beds and paid for the porridge; the big bad wolf stayed in-character as Grandma, and enjoyed Little Red Riding Hood waiting on him hand and foot – well, until Grandma got home from Las Vegas, at which point, um, stuff got real. In fiction, it’s an intriguing idea, and no harm done. Even lately, Kay and I saw a movie at the theater that left a big chunk out of the story, so I wrote the missing chunk. And for a few weeks now, I’ve been intrigued all over again by the idea of alternate endings. Let’s try one, shall we?

     Sometimes, the best way to see the beauty of what’s real and true is to consider what kind of alternate reality might have formed on the weight of a few What-If’s going a different way. We’re going to step out of fiction for our experiment and into reality, into Scripture. I’m going to rewrite some familiar passages (those rewrites will be fiction… nobody’s pretending to be a prophet here) to emphasize the glory of what actually happened. Not only that, but we’re going to rewind to the front and craft an alternate beginning and alternate middle; next week’s letter will be the alternate ending. Stay tuned. Meanwhile, see the passages below, labeled “Actual” and “Alternate.”

     Opening a real and faithful Bible, you’ll see the Fall of Mankind narrated in the third chapter of Genesis. You know the story: the serpent deceived the woman, who ate fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and gave some to her husband who was with her, and was witness to all that was happening. In an instant, they understood sin and shame, and hid themselves from the Lord God when he came to meet them in the garden. Let’s pick it up from there…

Actual:

    But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate”… Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:9-12, 22-24… really).

 Alternate:

    But the Lord God called to the man and said, “Come out of the bushes, Adam. I saw what you did.” And the man said, “You saw that?” “Sure I did,” the Lord God said, “and it’s OK, little fella. Everybody messes up now and then. Here’s whatcha need to do: grit your teeth and try harder to do better. That thing a little while ago, that was Strike One. With any luck, you’ll see the error of your ways and we won’t have to have this talk again… So the Lord God floated off into some remote corner of the garden and left the man and his wife standing in the midst, feeling silly in their fig-leaf loincloths, staring at two trees: one was a delight to the eyes, and the other would make them live forever. They looked at each other and uttered the same words in the same moment: “What now?” (Genesis 3:9-12, 22-24… not really at all).

     It stands to reason that an alternate beginning will produce an alternate middle…

Actual:

    And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord… And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him… And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 2:6-11, 40; 4:17-21, really).

 Alternate:

    And while they were there, shivering in the stable because somebody forgot to make reservations at the inn, she gave birth to her firstborn son… And the child grew and was filled with wisdom and became a really sharp observer of human nature… And the scroll of the prophet Lamech was given to him, but he rolled it back up and said, “Y’all are a hot mess.” Whereupon, Jesus caught the next rope ladder back to heaven, and rolled it up behind him (Luke something-or-other… not even close).

     The second most wonderful thing the Lord God has done for the human race, so far, was to expel the first two humans from the garden of Eden and block the way to the tree of life. Would you like to take a guess at the first most wonderful thing? Feel free. They’re related. Meanwhile, the next time we’re thinking the punishment in the garden way overshot the crime, let’s think also about a reality in which Adam and Eve – and all of us their descendants – have been left eternally reaching for our own bootstraps, eternally deluded in thinking we could tolerate being without the love and help of the one who made us. It’s been a long and winding road, east of Eden – that much is true. True, also, that every turn, no matter how disorienting it may seem to us, has been crafted to take us back to the tree of life.

     Next week we’ll take a stab at an alternate ending, laying the alternatives alongside the actuals. Lord, help us to find…  

 

 Grace and Peace (in the actuals),

 

John