Cain

One of the cool things about the big book called the Bible is its meant to be taken literally similar to an instruction manual for your dishwasher. Just kidding. The bible's cool because each time you read it, you see and feel something you've never experienced before. That happened to me again, this morning. I was reading through Genesis, which by the way is one of the best books ever written, period, Grisham doesn't even come close. Although Choose your Own Adventure may give it a run for its money. But I digress. I love the book of Genesis and have probably read it 50 times. Yeh that's right 50. So if you've only read it 3 - I'm 47 times more spiritual than you. Cool eh?

Anyways, this morning I was reading about Cain and Able. Now most of us probably know how this story goes. Cain was bad, killed his brother then got kicked out of the neighborhood. Meanwhile Able was good, got to stay, but not too long because as was already noted - he was killed by his bro Cain. That's chapter 4. Pretty open and shut case. Perhaps.

Although, if you read the story again for the first time, you may discover something new. For instance, who is it that you find yourself identifying with? I don't know about you but Able seems to be more of a"that which is perfect" rather then that which is human kind a guy. I don't identify with Able at all. He got it all right. Made God happy. Never wandered. Unlike his pagan brother Cain.

I find myself being touched with Cain's struggles, much more then Able's goodytooshoenis. At one point, God say's to Cain "if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door. It desires to have you but you must master it." Of course Cain doesn't master anything and promptly kills his brother. Cain was not able to control his anger, so as with any uncontrolled sin it got out of hand and evolved into something much worse. Btw, how long did Cain hate his brother? As long as he was able. Snicker.

So, here's the part that I connected with. God comes to Cain and calls him on the fact that he killed his brother. And then God say's something that I think, is more applicable now then ever before. "You will be a restless wanderer on the earth."

Eureka! For those of you who don't know what I do, I spend most of my time with teenagers and young adults and let me tell you, restless and wanderer are two words that describe them perfectly. And not only them, old foggies like me and Tim too. Sorry Tim but I wasn't comfortable out on the limb all by myself. And sorry Kamara, I should have said Tim and I.

Its interesting to me how Cain becomes restless and wanders from God due to the fact that he is unable to master his sin. His self. His passions. His life.

It seems to me that those who wander are those who have yet to master themselves. And that'd definetly me.

One more thing. The first thing Cain does after wandering away from God is start a family and build a city. Growing up I remember wondering "how the heck could Cain have gotten married, the only other girl on the planet at the time was good ol mom." I now realize that this story is not supposed to be taken literally, like a dishwasher manual, but rather more of a metaphorical depiction of a universal truth. The universal truth being: this is what a life lived outside of God looks and feels like. Anyways, the story continues and Cain gets married and builds a city. Which isn't a good thing. Humans were created to live thier lives with God in Eden but because we are unable to master our selves we are forced to live our lives "east of eden" and fend for ourselves. Cain promptly builds a city which is a sign that he is trying to do just that but it is not something that pleases God. Do you think God wants his creation to live far from him, in a kingdom they created for themselves? I don't. The City in Genesis is a symbol of man's alienation from God and the beginning of mankind's obsession with its self. Cain is not the first entrepeneur, he's the first man (in the bible) who attempted life without God. He's the first man that spent his life building his own kingdom rather then building the kingdom of God. He's the first man to miss the point of life.

What a murdering jerk that demon of a man. No wait. What a human like me. And Jason. And Todd. Sorry J, Tim and I were getting lonely. And Todd, you're a newbie so. . .

John