Advent is a time to reflect on Jesus' first and second comings; however, it's not often thought of as related to Genesis. But of course the Creation story has Christ's fingerprints all over it, for all things were created through him. I have recently been listening to Paul Spicer's fascinating “Easter Oratorio” (2000). The words (by N. T. Wright) are ingenious, interweaving the resurrection narrative with the creation account: "The garden of creation / was Adam's glad employ; / the garden of redemption / is Jesus' right and joy ... / The new creation wakens / before his skillful hand; / The thorns and thistles vanish / At Jesus' royal command." Reading Genesis 2:4-25 with this in mind opens up a whole new understanding. The Lord Jesus enters the story as the one forming the trees and animals for the man, giving a boundary with respect to the one and a freedom-responsibility with respect to the other, providing a companion who is "bone of his bone.."As we prepare for Christmas, we look back to Jesus' birth when he became "flesh of our flesh" and we look forward to that garden with the tree of life that he is cultivating for us even now.
"Lord, Thou knowest both the flowers and the fruits of my garden....
Come and teach me that I grow what will please you most."
(Sr. Josepha Menendez, The Way of Divine Love)
