Tempted

Genesis 3:6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, whe took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.

We picked apples at our neighbor’s orchard yesterday morning. Their trees were loaded with plum ripe apples. The orchard made me think of Eve’s temptation in Eden as I picture the one perfect apple on the forbidden tree. Today we are bombarded with temptation that is easy to obtain with just a click of the keypads. And then we are onto our next big yearning. Eve learned, and we need to as well…. that Jesus is the only one to fill the ache in our hearts.

Jan Richardson writes Taking the Fruit in her book “In the Sanctuary of Women”. I hope you enjoy it.

The First Apple – Each desire in my life leads to another desire that lives behind it or beneath it or within it. In the midst of paying attention to them all I sometimes wonder if I’m addicted to longing.

The Second Apple – The Sufi poet Rumi says that our longing is the answer to our longing – that our capacity for desire is the reply to our desire. Some days I find this comforting, but on other days it doesn’t give much satisfaction.

The Third Apple – Desire finds its way into a lot of my writing so I’ve had to stock up on my synonyms. Longing, yearning, and hunger are useful; and hankering is fun. Ache comes in handy if it’s a hard desire, as some of mine are.

The Fourth Apple – Maybe Eve left Eden with a seed tucked under her tongue and rolled it around in her mouth and in her memory when she was in danger of forgetting the wisdom she had nearly left untaken.

The Fifth Apple – Every now and again I try to remember to stop and ask, “Are there any lines I should be crossing?”

The Sixth Apple – Cooper Edens writes, “Longing, far more than it haunts you, reminds you of your true name.” What’s yours?