"And the Gods said: Let us make an help meet for the man, for it is not good that the man should be alone, therefore we will form an help meet for him."
Abraham 5:14
I was reading this and wondering why it isn't good for the man to be alone. We're often alone in life, and although of course we can make bad choices when we are alone, we can also make good ones. :) Being alone doesn't seem inherently evil. Thinking about it further though, Adam alone in the Garden of Eden wouldn't just be alone like we're often alone. It would be more like hermit-alone. Thinking about some of the major commandments... loving God and loving our neighbors... there is no way to learn to do those things all by ourselves. We have to have examples and models and see other people and interact with them. We have to learn what community is like rather than just selfishness, and to learn to build Zion, a perfect community, we need to see a lot of community so we have some raw material to improve upon. :) If you think about it, Adam and Eve's experience with the fruit of the forbidden tree is a huge initial lesson in conflict resolution.
We don't always enjoy the lessons that come from being around other people, but like everything else in this world, God has designed experiences for us that will help us become more of who we want to be... to stretch beyond ourselves, help others, and learn so much more about people and the world and our places in the eternities. :) We need other people; they are here for a reason. :) Today, let's embrace that fact and learn about and love the people around us.
Abraham 5:14
I was reading this and wondering why it isn't good for the man to be alone. We're often alone in life, and although of course we can make bad choices when we are alone, we can also make good ones. :) Being alone doesn't seem inherently evil. Thinking about it further though, Adam alone in the Garden of Eden wouldn't just be alone like we're often alone. It would be more like hermit-alone. Thinking about some of the major commandments... loving God and loving our neighbors... there is no way to learn to do those things all by ourselves. We have to have examples and models and see other people and interact with them. We have to learn what community is like rather than just selfishness, and to learn to build Zion, a perfect community, we need to see a lot of community so we have some raw material to improve upon. :) If you think about it, Adam and Eve's experience with the fruit of the forbidden tree is a huge initial lesson in conflict resolution.
We don't always enjoy the lessons that come from being around other people, but like everything else in this world, God has designed experiences for us that will help us become more of who we want to be... to stretch beyond ourselves, help others, and learn so much more about people and the world and our places in the eternities. :) We need other people; they are here for a reason. :) Today, let's embrace that fact and learn about and love the people around us.
No comments:
Post a Comment