At-one-ment, Day 53

After the fall, when man and woman become fully human… they feel the deepest shame there is: the shame of facing a fellow being “nakedly” and simultaneously experiencing mutual estrangement, the unspeakable abyss that separates each from the other.
-Erich Fromm

Erich Fromm presents an interesting (actually I find it delightful) view point of “original” sin, that of Adam and Eve, in his book “To have or to be.” What is sin? It is disobedience. God instructed them to not eat of the tree and they were disobedient.

Adam and Eve were one flesh. This is what the Bible says. They were naked and unashamed. Mr. Fromm presents the idea that before they ate of the fruit, before their eyes were opened to the knowledge of good and evil they had a bond which may have joined them in a way incomprehensible to us. They were one. When Eve chose to eat of the fruit naturally Adam would have eaten of it too. They were one. They were naked and unashamed and were one. They had this similar relationship with the Lord. Jesus speaks of this relationship to the disciples when he says I and the Father are one. When Adam and Eve sinned, ate the fruit, their eyes were opened and the bond was broken. They were fearful of God, no longer being one with him. They were ashamed in the sight of each other, no longer being one flesh, but two separate beings with their own egos, their own passions, their own desires. Choosing to eat the fruit was an act opposite of love, it was selfishness. The first sin could be looked at a bit differently than just being that of disobedience in that it was an act of choosing to not love. This choice ruined everything.

Erich Fromm says then, maybe righteousness isn’t found in the act of obedience, or religious observation, but in loving, in at-one-ment. (I’m pretty sure he’s not a Christian by the way) Jesus was always trying to get the religious zealots to understand that they were missing it. What was his message? Love your neighbor, do good to those who hurt you, do not judge, do not condemn, restoration with the Father; Jesus was telling us to at-one ourselves with God and then with everyone else.

Being obedient and acting in love should go hand in hand. However they do not always. We very often are obedient with frustration and resentment buried deep within our hearts. Sometimes in order to truly fulfill an act of love someone must be disobedient.

I’m often times the first to judge someone for a horrendous act (or a tiny one). I gasp and roll my eyes and “cannot believe they did that” with the rest of them. I am daily seeking out humility and compassion to overcome this bitter root which desires to live within my heart. Complaining about what he did, getting angry about what she did, noticing fault in anyone and then holding it up, defining them by that fault; this is sin. Anytime, ANYTIME we set ourselves above or even apart from anyone else, this is sin. I must remind myself, there is something to be learned from every person on this planet, everyone has something I do not, I am no better than any man. We are ALL children of God. He desires relationship and at-one-ment with ALL of us AND that we love each other.

It doesn’t matter how good you are… you sin. Love.

You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.
Luke 10:27