Reflections on the Garden of Eden

As strange as this may sound, I think about the Garden of Eden actually quite a lot. For a season, Eden was home to the first man and woman ever. I’ve never seen Eden, but from what I understand, it was absolutely lovely. All living organisms within the Garden harmoniously dwelled with the ecosystem and with each other. Depression wasn’t a thing, nor were envy and crime. Bees maybe didn’t sting, sunburns maybe didn’t hurt, and storms maybe didn’t threaten. That’s the way I picture it.

But there was that one tree, and that one tempter. There was that one day when Adam and Eve took an irreversible step. That was the day they had to depart from Eden and never return.

I think that that day can be looked at in a couple of different lights. With one eye open and the other eye closed, it can be seen through a dimly-colored shade of pity. But with the second eye open and the first eye closed, it can be seen through bright and blissful golds and silvers.

Some may wonder how a permanent deportation from such a place could possibly be viewed as a good thing. That Garden’s every square inch was exquisite, while current-day Earth is far from perfection. Even I have had the secret desire to momentarily escape reality, and venture backwards through time for an Eden excursion.

Both consciously and subconsciously, a number of people might wish that life these days could be a lot more like the way life was in Eden, in the sense that they wish for their cares to evaporate into thin air. I do know that our first parents’ departure from their sparkling first home unstoppably opened the doors to all manners of hardship. But it also opened additional doors to understanding the differences between wrong and right, pain and joy, and enemies and friends.

Friends. Family. People I love. Because of the departure from Eden, I and the people I cherish became possible. My opportunity to live on a planet that houses opposing elements, ideas, and powers—which thus enables me to set apart my people as my favorite treasures and call them my crowning jewels in life—became possible. My philosophy about favorites is that if you’ve got a favorite something or someone, it means there are other somethings and someones that aren’t your favorites, and perhaps denotes that there are other somethings and someones that are even the banes of your existence.

Would there even be “banes of existence” had the departure from Eden not happened? Say you were granted the chance of living in an Eden society, with all its carefreeness and lack of opposition in every way, shape, and form. Would you value your favorite people and your most authentically joyful moments like you do in real life? Do you think you would become desensitized to the essence of rightness and goodness, if the things opposite to rightness and goodness were no more?

In the Book of Mormon, in 2 Nephi, chapter 2, verse 25, it states, “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.” This sentence of scripture summarizes so clearly what I’ve been trying to say over the last several paragraphs. I would like to add just one concluding thought to that scriptural thought:

Although mankind’s home is no longer Eden, mankind’s home is not devoid of all of Eden’s beauties. Earth is still beautiful; in fact, it’s way, way, way beautiful. It’s got an enormous history book that’s jam-packed with countless righteous occurrences, both past and present. It’s still glorious, and it’s filled to the brim with the most wonderful people, many of whom we are benevolently blessed by a loving Heavenly Father to call our favorite treasures and crowning jewels.

(The photo below was taken a few years ago. It's of me and a few of my favorite friends, enjoying a gorgeous GARDEN of tulips!)

Shining the Savior's Shoes

I was in the room when someone recently asked what it means when it says “the earth is [God’s] footstool.” Immediately upon this question’s entrance into my ears, I visualized the first throne-and-footstool type object I could think of that wasn’t a throne and footstool: an old-fashioned shoe shining chair.

Would you be so kind as to humor me for a sec? Close your eyes and picture a shoe shining chair. It’s kind of cool-looking, isn’t it? The seat is slightly elevated, and there’s a footstooley peg for each of the shine receiver’s feet to rest. Now picture a man who looks like he’s dressed for quite an occasion, and his last errand to make along his way is a shoe-shining stop. Picture yourself as the shoe shiner. The man comes to you and asks if you would be so kind as to shine his shoes for him. He asks politely, with a kindly twinkle in his eye. Some little birdie quietly tells you that this man is someone pretty special, and that today is your lucky day, because you’re the one who gets to help him out.

You invite the man to sit down, and you commence your work on his shoes. You make sure you do the most impeccable job you can, because there’s just something about him… something in his eyes and his persona… that just makes you feel like he deserves your very best.

You finish up, and he graciously offers payment, though you kind of feel like you don’t really care to take his money; the remarkable feeling you got when he smiled, shook your hand, and told you “thanks” was rewarding enough.

Think of this well-dressed man as the Beloved Son of God, Jesus Christ, and keep thinking of yourself as His shoe shiner. He's there in heaven, on His throne. But He's also there on His footstool, where you're at. He's where you're at. You're with Him and He's with you.

He, as the well-dressed man in your imagination, provided you with the opportunity to serve him, to shine his shoes. He, as the Savior Jesus Christ, also provides you with the opportunity to serve Him. You are provided with the amazing opportunity to help prepare this earth to receive Him as the King of kings and Lord of lords.

As the imaginary well-dressed man, he somehow made you feel like you had value, and he appreciated you sincerely. As He is in reality, when you offer Him your best devotions and efforts, He somehow is able to help you catch a glimpse of your infinite worth, and you can feel His love and support as you continue to courageously help Him build the Kingdom.

What God Means To Me

Much of society is drifting away from God, and even deliberately rejecting Him. Plenty of people still would never dream of doing that, but many people do dream of it and do do it. In this land where the rejecters are prominent, I am taking this opportunity to share my heartfelt feelings toward God—specifically toward my treasured Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Supreme Being who is both Christ’s Father and my Heavenly Father.

First of all, I want to declare that I love my Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ with all that I am. A certain conundrum presents itself whenever I’m openly expressing my love for these two people: because my love for them is great, the words come easily, yet so many other words remain that I don’t know how to say or don’t even know exist.

From the bottom of my heart, I thank Heavenly Father for graciously giving His Son as a most precious gift to me and to all mankind. I also thank Him for faithfully making sure to always be there to hear me pray, and for answering my sincere prayers unfailingly—even when the answers often don’t show their faces at the exact times and places I predict.

I’m gratefully glad to live in a day and age and nation that grants me the freedom to have my very own copy of the holy scriptures to read and study. I believe these scriptures are the word of God, as long as they are correctly translated. They too are Heavenly Father’s gift to me, and the content therein, through the power of the Holy Ghost, teaches me what to do in order to live with my Heavenly Family again forever.

I feel God’s love for me whenever my nose is in those wonderful books. I also feel His love so purely, pleasantly, and profoundly whenever I’m doing things like serving His children, singing His praises, or even just glancing at reverently and beautifully crafted artwork that features the Savior. Especially when I see a lovely image of Jesus’ face, it feels like He is looking and smiling right at me, and it is one of the best feelings in the world to me. I eagerly anticipate the day when my physical eyes will finally see His physical face, looking and smiling right at me.

I know the day will come when I will see Jesus again. I will see Him again. And I hope that when I do see Him again, He and I will exchange incredibly happy ear-to-ear smiles. I also can’t wait to hug Him. A hug from the Savior? Could it possibly get much better than that?

I know that Jesus soon will reign personally and triumphantly on this earth. After coming here once 2,000 years ago to be rejected by many, He will come again a second time, and will be rejected by no one. Every knee shall bow, and every voice shall proclaim Him King of kings and Lord of lords.

The more I think about everything there is to think about, the more solidly I realize that God has everything to do with everything. He is the originator of everything. He is in, through, and around everything. He is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. I’m not sure whether to classify this as a phenomenon or a miracle, but although God is all of this, He is also constantly and tenderly mindful of the common human soul:

“When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained… What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him?” (Psalms 8:3-4)

God—our Heavenly Father—loves us flawlessly and forever, as does His Beloved Son Jesus Christ. And when I say “us,” I mean you, me, and everyone. In a secular society that’s filled with ample rejection of Deity, may we be able to make our way to God’s side, do what we can to stay there, and sense Him looking and smiling right at us, which truly is one of the best feelings in all the world.