That Sounds Fun by Annie F. DownsChikamu

DAY 1

Longing for Eden

Genesis 2:8–15, 3:23; Isaiah 51:3; 2 Corinthians 5:2–4

My childhood wasn’t perfect, but I have memories that call to mind something good that has slipped through my fingers.

In one particular recollection, I was wearing shorts on a summer evening in Georgia. My mother, grandmother, and I sat on the porch and snapped green beans from the local farmers’ market. One section of the porch was always cool because it was always in the shade. The ground was cement and bordered with bricks. I can almost feel that spot again, my bare legs touching the cool cement, a colander in my lap. I was never a huge fan of chores, but there was something about snapping beans. I was probably thinking about a book I was reading or a friend at school or absolutely nothing. I miss thinking about nothing.

Maybe that simple memory is so strong because it feels like an Eden that I long for. J. R. R. Tolkien wrote, “Certainly there was an Eden on this very unhappy earth. We all long for it, and we are constantly glimpsing it.”

In Genesis 2, before there was sin and before there was the brokenness we all feel, there was Eden. It was a garden and it was perfect. The humans there worked and gardened and cared for the animals and loved each other with no shame. It was how things were meant to be.

I think when most of us go looking for fun, we’re actually looking for home. We’re looking for peace. We’re looking for something to fill that spot left by growing up or growing out or moving on. While we think we want fun, what we really want is Eden.

I’m not here to tell you to carpe your diems. To me that’s just the other side of the same coin, looking for the quickest way to fill the gap.

The truer statement is that what we’ve lost is real. That thing we know is missing is no joke. It’s legit. While the world may look at your life and tell you that you have everything, you know the quiet nagging whisper of truth. We have lost Eden, we have lost peace, we have lost the foundation upon which genuine fun can be built. And we have to go search for it.

What memories trigger your sense of longing? What about your “Eden” do you miss most?