Thoughts on the allegory of Adam and Eve and the Fall

Disclaimer: I don't know anything and I already know that.


When God said, "Don't eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil," what he really said was, "Don't choose fear.".

The fallen one tried to get Adam to fear, but Adam wouldn't listen, so the fallen one tried to get Eve to fear. He found a way in, and Eve shared that fear with Adam. Perhaps she started a fight with him.

Then God returned and they couldn't bear to be in his presence because they had partaken of fear and anger. That made the Light and Love impossible to bear, so they had to leave to continue to exist.

And their children were born to parents who had learned to fear, and who had learned to be angry. And the fallen ones capitalized on that to create as much pain and mayhem and fear as they could get away with in all of the generations since Eva and Adam.

As far as the first clothing goes, I've heard the theory that Eve and Adam were clothed in Light until they "ate the fruit" - then that Light left and they had no covering to protect them, so God made clothing that would work in a pinch, but wasn't as good as what they had before.

Why, then, do the scriptures say the man and the woman were naked but not ashamed? Maybe because they didn't wear clothing like we do, but were clothed in Light.

What about Eve/the scriptures saying Adam and Eve would have had no children? It's possible they were in training and, at some point, the Gods would have taught them how to combat fear with love, then they would have gone prepared to the dark spot in the garden (see below).

Why were fallen ones allowed to roam the garden? I'm sure I do not know . . . but what if they were only confined to one area? What if they were confined to the spooky old house and yard in a certain part of the garden that was majorly creepy to anyone who knew what fear was? What if the Gods said to stay away from that creepy place? (After all, the fallen ones were kicked out onto the same planet. Maybe they demanded a place next to Adam and Eve's house. Far enough away to not overpower them unawares, but close enough to entice them because . . . well, I guess life is about choices. And, besides that, this planet was their turf.)

Adam wasn't interested in the spooky old house, but EVe wondered what it was, so crossed over the boundaries to explore it. In that case, the fallen ones had a chance to put fear and anger into her heart and mind.

And, since it's an allegory, what if the Gods were Eve and Adam's parents (two couples) who had survived a global disaster, and had reached a spiritual level so high that they were, in reality, Gods?

Just wondering. It makes for an interesting story, to be sure.

Dates and Numbers

I was thinking of this post I made on LDSFF a while ago. It may mean nothing at all - and rereading it, I see flawed logic - but I wanted to post it because I love playing with numbers.

Post written September 1, 2013:
Dates and Numbers
Posted: Sun Sep 01, 2013 4:51 pm
by A Random Phrase

During Sunday School today, my daughter and I were looking at dates and came up with some interesting patterns. If anyone has ideas to add, please feel free.

1820 – 1st vision
1823 – 1st Moroni visit
1827 – Got the gold plates
1830 – 1st publication of the Book of Mormon
•

Years between each: 3, 4, 3

Years between 1st vision and getting the gold plates – 7

Years between 1st vision and 1st publication – 10
•

1831 – Zion in Missouri was given in revelation (D&C 57)

1833 – They were kicked out of Missouri because of their wickedness (D&C 101)

1838 – They got another chance (D&C 124)

1844 – They turned over the prophets to murderers

1830-1844 – The time from the 1st publication of the BofM until the death of the prophets. There are two sevens (14 years) and they got two chances.
•

1973 – a prophet-to-be joined the church

2006 – The Second Comforter published – The beginning of the 3rd chance for the institution.

1973-2013 – Years the prophet was a member – 40
•

1844-2006 – 162 years. This is divisible by 3 four times, then times two – 3*3*3*3*2 or 3 to the power of 4 times 2.

2006-2013 – Years between the 1st book and the casting out of a prophet by the powers that answer to God for the people, and that speak to the people for God – 7

Let's look at some of those dates again:

2 years – 1831-1833 – Missouri Zion

7 years – 1831-1838 – Next chance at Zion

7 years – 2006-2013 – 1st book to casting out – last chance for Zion (gentle info)

2 years – 2011-2013 – PtHG to casting out – last chance for Zion (plain & painful info)

It's a chiasmus. 2 7 7 2 – 1831-1833 and 2011-2013 on the outside.

One more:
2011 – PtHG 1st published

2013 – The institutional Gentiles reject the message, thus ending the times of the Gentiles and beginning the times of the Remnant.

2012 is the mean of these two numbers.

2012 – The Mayan “end of an age” and the beginning of a new one.

It appears we are on the tail end of one age and the beginning of the next age.

One thought: If the days begin at sunset, when night is drawing nigh, do the years begin in the fall when the days begin to grow shorter?

So, how much time do we lay Gentiles have? 7 years if we listen and do? 3 years if we don't? Could we safely say that the destruction will begin in earnest in 2020? If prophets are killed before then, would the destruction/cleansing of "my house" begin within a few months to a couple of years? And the 2020 date would be the country?

Thoughts? Insights?

End of post.

Added thought: 40 years to the day after his baptism, DS began the Lord's lecture circuit. 10 years after his baptism, the following March, his ministry began. Does that mean the Lord is giving us 10 1/2 years to succeed or blow this opportunity?

March 2024?

The servant may mean nothing in and of himself, but the Lord seems to use them as signs (was it Isaiah whose marriage and sons were for signs? Was he the one who walked around naked to show the people what lifestyle they could expect if they did not repent?). It is the dates and numbers and "What is God doing?" that I am focusing on in this post, not any individual.

Random Thoughts

Ideally, I like my posts to be spiritually uplifting. Sometimes (perhaps many times) that does not happen. Today is not going to be one of those spiritual posts. I simply feel like writing. Perhaps my fingers are itching for NaNoWriMo and want to get in there and write. :)

I had a dream when my oldest was about a year old. Her father and I were at a baseball game. It was actually across (west) from where the baseball/T-ball diamonds really were in waking life. (This was in a rural area, by the way. The baseball diamond is outside of the town.) Suddenly, there was an earthquake and the earth split. There was chaos and destruction. My spouse had been holding our daughter, and they were on the other side of the split. I could not find them, and I was panic-stricken over not being able to find my daughter.

Well, I think I've been reading too many threads on internet forums about the alleged George Albert Smith prophecy (which actually, quite well, fits prophesies in the scriptures, near death experiences, and so forth). When that daughter graduated from a college in another state recently, the dream kept coming back to mind. I was concerned that something drastic would happen in our society to prevent me from seeing her again. I certainly didn't want her to go with her father (he has been dead for three years).

She was going to return home, but changed her mind. I tried to convince her to come, at least for a visit, during those prophesied times (major holidays). But I had to let it drop. It is her life, after all. And I figured I was probably "loony tunes" for thinking that the prophecy might be fulfilled this soon. Well, not too long ago, she changed her mind again and is planning to return to us after all. I expect she will not want to live with us long, but as long as we have her during those holidays, that will suffice for me.

Most likely, nothing really bad will happen here in the west, and I have just been on forums too much lately.

Still trying to acquire the faith to survive the prophesied bad times. Food storage only works if you haven't used it by then. Or - maybe - we are already in the bad times, the times of needing to live on food storage with people losing their jobs and so forth, and we don't know it. Perhaps we have been looking forward to something "big" - something that is so bad we have to defend our food from the "zombies" and the "zombie apocalypse." Perhaps by that time, no one will have a storage left and we will have to rely on God or take up our sword to kill and eat our fellow-beings.

I think our perception is quite skewed in many areas. I would just like to know exactly where I, personally, am skewed so I can stop believing lies and begin to believe only truth.

Random Thoughts

I may make this a private blog. I don't know. I want to put my private musings here, sometimes.

I have gotten over the "feel like I will die if I don't drop French." I don't really know what was happening there. I was convinced I'd flunk the test that was coming up. I felt like I could not comprehend any more, that I was overloaded. The test turned out to be doable, and the feelings vanished.

If I had "all the time in the world" I would take French 101 again next semester. Then the next year, I'd take 102 two semesters. The next 201. The next 202. In the meantime, I'd take Spanish 101 next semester, as well as next fall. Doubling up like that would help me learn more thoroughly.

Hm

Hm, hardly anyone comes to this blog. Probably because I don't write much on it. It was going to be where I shared my stories freely and without cost, but I found the format of a blog was not conducive to reading stories.

I tried linking to google docs, but no one was looking at them. So, here it sits. A lonely blog. Perhaps I should think of more alternate hymns and post one a week or something. (I'm not really the personality to do that. I'd post when I had one or when the mood hit. Thus, one week might have one post, a different week none, and another about ten.)

French is driving me nuts. I wanted a simple "conversational French" and got talked into French 101. 6 chapters. Test on chp 4 is here and my brain is fried. I love playing with languages. "Playing" is the key here. Tests, graded homework, stress are not part of a fun learning experience for me - especially when the person correcting the homework or tests is not always correct. Also, speed and hurry-hurry-hurry, complete with deadlines (tests) don't jive with my core.

At the same time, conversational Spanish wasn't working for me, so I opted for the college's Rosetta Stone. when I checked into it, I was not told the time commitment difference between the 1, 2, and 3 credit classes. I signed up for the 3, then found the time commitment was far too much, especially with the French 101 I was concentrating on.

At the moment, the only class I have is French (and I'm feeling like a real loser for dropping two of the classes I did). Sigh. Will I ever figure out who/what/etc. that I am? I suppose I'm one of those "lazy" ones who cannot stick with things. Barbara Sher would call me a "scanner" because I do one thing for a while, then I'm ready for something else. But how can one make money doing that? And we could use the money.

D'ja ever feel like you don't really belong in this world? Like what gives you power and strength is rare and difficult to find, while what saps your power and strength is in over-satiating abundance? I can't be the only one craving the lifestyle I crave - but am I the only one not smart enough to find a way to live it?

Inflection

My daughter and I were discussing italics and inflection. The example she used was, "The cat in the hat."

Examples (in bold italics):

The cat in the hat. Implies a specific cat.

The cat in the hat. Implies the cat, as opposed to a horse or a dog.

The cat in the hat. Implies that it is in the hat not by it or on it.

The cat in the hat. Implies a specific hat.

The cat in the hat. Implies it's in a hat, not in a sweater or a dish.

Ramblings

I finished my novel at just over 56,000 words on Nov 13th. I'm not planning on going back to add more words to my NaNo count.

I've drawn a few pictures, but not many. I keep feeling like I'm not seeing well enough or the connection between my hand and eye doesn't work. In fact, I think that the fact that I mentioned that I draw at times will put into people's head the illusion that I draw quite well. During my life, I have drawn a few pictures that were fairly good but I am nowhere near as good as I was heading before undefined criticism killed my joy of drawing many years ago.

Similarly, with speaking or reading foreign languages, I'm concerned that mentioning I dabble will cause people to think I am somehow proficient in the languages I play with. Such is not the case.

And if I mention that I am now in a church choir (or have been in them in the past) people will somehow think I can sing.

I am mediocre. I do not fit this world's idea of success in any way, shape or form. Nor do I fit my religion's definition of success in any way, shape, or form (divorced twice totally blew it - and the fact that my children are free to choose makes me a bit of an oddball).

On Blogging

Restored Post

Sunday, July 31, 2011

So I look at other people's blogs and most of them follow a single theme: LDS raw food, Freedom, Being a Natural mother (like natural foods, babywearing - a term I despise - etc.). Me? I flitter around. One day, I may talk about religion. Another day, it's all about venting about something because I'm a parent. Another time, I may discuss my views on healing. Or I may take a break altogether.

At one time, I used to be considered good at writing. I was afraid of rejection, however, so I didn't pedal my writings/push my writings on anyone. Now, with blogs so easily available, I can write and feel relatively anonymous. I mean, few people are interested in this blog. I am most definitely an unknown factor.

Having read so many LDS blogs, I think I will just see if I can do this on a more regular basis, just a bit at least. I agree with some parts of some blogs. I am turned off by the arguments, and by the degeneration into polygamy discussions. Polygamy is just a tiny part of the gospel, and it is possible that it was never intended to be part of it; simply a test for Joseph Smith Jr and a few others. History is so convoluted, and we do not view things in at all the same way as people did 150 years ago. We have no real frame of reference in our souls on which to hang the words and opinions of those days.