Yearning For Eden

Walking in Missouri's Botanical Garden is Imagining Eden

Who loves a garden, still his Eden keeps, Perennial pleasures plants, and wholesome harvests reaps.

—Amos Bronson Alcott¹

We All Long for Eden

"We all long for Eden, and we are constantly glimpsing it: our whole nature at its best and least corrupted, its gentlest and most human, is still soaked with the sense of exile." --J. R. Tolkien

In “The Magnificent Story: Uncovering a Gospel of Beauty, Goodness, and Truth,” ²James Bryan Smith, author and esteemed professor of theology, writes:

“What kind of life does the Christian story give rise to? The question is important, since the answer to it determines the shape of our spirituality. Our stories run our lives in ways we may not be aware of. What story have you been told of God? The most important thing we can do is to start living into the right story. Any story worth giving the power to shape our lives must pass a simple test: Is it beautiful, good, and true? If it is, then it is a magnificent story.
You were designed for nothing less.”

There are significant questions within his words:

1. What kind of life does the Christian story give rise to?

2. What story have you been told of God?

3. Any story worth giving the power to shape our lives must pass a simple test: Is it beautiful, good, and true?

Lately, through a beautiful time of spiritual direction, I've decided I’m still living a skewed story of God in many subconscious ways. How do I know?

1. I still live in a “people-pleasing” narrative, not a strong sense of self.

2. I still equate love with performance, not grace and unconditional love. I share the background of this false narrative in my second book, “Overcoming Hurtful Words: Rewrite Your Own Story,” pg. 45.

3. I still overcare for others and undercare for myself.

4. I still chase the whirlwind of an insatiable idea of true success.

These “natural tendencies” are seared in my neural pathways and continue to lead me away from a story shaped by the beautiful, good, and true.

“I’m so tired and just want a peaceful nervous system,” I told her. “Will I ever feel at home in my body and live from a place of contentment?”

My spiritual director gently and wisely helped me understand that I yearn for Eden.

“It’s innate inside of us to yearn for Eden,” she smiled. “That’s a beautiful desire. How might you create a little Eden in your daily life?”