We Evolve through the Messiness of Engagement

In the Bible, the Book of Genesis tells the creation story from two traditions.

In the first tradition (Gn 1 - 2.3), we witness the smooth flow of God's creative Word: (1) Day and night; (2) The sky; (3) The land and the sea and the variety of vegetation and fruit trees; (4) The sun, the moon and the stars; (5) The creatures of the sea and sky; (6) The creatures of the land and man. At the end of the sixth day God saw all that He had made and found it very good.

The second tradition (Gn 2.3 - 3) appears a little more messy and disjointed.  It does not have the orderly and sequential flow of the first tradition. We read that God forms man from the dust of the ground and blows life into his nostrils. He places man in a garden and gives him a multitude of trees that are good to look at and to eat from. In the garden He also places the tree of Life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He gives man the freedom to eat the fruit of any of the trees but warns him not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Then, God realizes that the man is alone and needs a helper. He creates the birds and the animals and brings them to the man to name but none appear to be a suitable helper. God then puts the man in a deep sleep, removes one of his ribs and forms woman out of it. Then comes temptation, the eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the introduction of sin and suffering.

Upon reflection, the first tradition reveals God's mind and will for the good of creation. The second places man at the center of the story and we see the tension between the free will God bestows on His creation and His will for good. Perhaps the second story of creation is a foreshadowing of all our stories - that we evolve through the messiness of that engaging and testing of wills, until we allow ours to be redeemed by His and we are able to share and live His vision of creation as very good.