The world could be a better place if we were all a bit more like Adam in today’s first reading. Were it not for the tragedy of an innocence lost, the scene might seem almost amusing to us. After being fooled by the serpent and eating the forbidden fruit, fear enters Adam’s heart. His words in response to God’s “Where are you?” are “I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.”
It is rare to hear an adult speak so plainly about his fears. It is an innocence we see only in children. More often than not, what happens to us with time is that we become very sophisticated in hiding away our emotions and fears. And often, we’ll use the same tactic that made us lose our original fearlessness in the first place: lies. What might this look like? Whether we actually say these words or not, the sentiment might look a little something like this: “I’m not scared.”; “That didn’t hurt me.”; “I’m not that weak.”; “I don’t need anyone.”
It is only honesty and vulnerability within ourselves that will help to dismantle the hollow giant of lies that we have built or that we contribute to in this broken world.
When we begin to recognize our fear, our pain, our weakness, then we can more confidently turn to God who is our love, our healing, and our strength. But this will not only have an effect on us, others will notice. And nourished by our vulnerability, they too will be inclined to share their true selves and thus turn to God who loves us and feeds our souls in abundance.