Bible Story (Genesis Edition; Part I)

The First Love

People have been trying to describe these phrases for a long time. There are several questions that still don't have the answers just yet, such as 'What is love?' 'Why do we love?' 'Do we need love?' 'How to be in love?' 'Who creates love?'. These questions don't have a simple answers, although a lot of scholars, researchers, even artists have been trying to define & figure this out. Perhaps we should also consider ourselves to the bible perspectives to help us grasp these questions. There are a lot of things that we could learn from the first man & woman in the earth.

God says that Adam needs a helper to thrive in this land. God knows what's best for Adam and that's why He creates Eve; A Suitable Helper ¸ not just any helper, but a suitable one. Well, she's not perfect creature but suitable doesn't have to be perfect. She just needs to be perfect for each other. And I think, the author wrote that God is creating Eve from Adam's ribs, is just a figurative speaking; a metaphor. Ribs is a symbol of equality for men & women, so that no gender is more superior than the others. There's an old song in Christian Hymn that says :

Woman were made from the man's ribs

Not from his skull so that woman can control him

Nor from his feet so that woman can be stepped on him

But from his ribs

So that they can be equal

So that they can protect each other

So that they can be close enough

To love each other perfectly

Well, I don't think people talk that way, these days. It's not just beautiful, it's deeply heart-gazing. And the author also mentioned that even though they were both naked, they felt no shame. It's like a dream come true! To be naked spiritually, or mentally, is not just embarrassing, it's a painful process. To tear down the cloak & mask that always bring comfort & security to us, is a great challenge, because you'll never know for sure the others respond when they see you, 'naked'. It's highly possible that they're not ready to accept us totally, even when we've invest a lot of time & effort.

Adam & Eve had shown us about what true love is, from the Genesis texts. It's more than just about finding someone that we like, but to adjust ourselves, so that we can be suitable for each other. Stop saying things like 'To love others means to accept them for who they are', because that's highly toxic things to say, because not only it's highly self-centered & prideful, it's also useless, nihilistic, & insane! Although it's true to accept our spouse for who they are, it's just half the truth. It's also about how far are we willing to humble ourselves unto our partner & adjust our expectations & personality, so that we could be a suitable helper for each other.

The next thing, is that true love requires honesty & acceptance. It takes courage to be honest to our partner, thoroughly, and it also requires a great & deep heart to accept others, absolutely. Being naked means is not about just looking to the beautiful parts of our self, and also to take notice & observe the dark sides. And that's why, marriage is a sacred part in Christian's ritual. It's about to take a good look at others, highly & deeply, and no matter how hard it is to accept each other, as long as there's love & blessings from God, we bind ourselves to each other in a sacred bond, that will last forever, until death that pull us apart, and 'til God unites us in heaven.

Love is complicated, it could drive the energy to be kind to others, to do the impossible things, and to bear a heavy burden. It helps us to keep being inspired, to see beauty, and create happiness even in the midst of chaos. And at the same time, love could also make us drunk and blind. We can see that also from this text when Adam accept (blindly) the forbidden fruit from Eve, although he knew that God has forbid him from eat it. It could be a poisonous drug or a useful pill. But one thing that we could all agree, love is the best thing that could happen in our lives, no matter how poisonous or useful it is.