East of Eden

For some of my readers the title of this blog will conjure up a novel by Steinbeck; others will recognise it from Genesis 4 wherein Cain, after killing his brother Abel, is banished to live “east of Eden”. Of course, Cain’s parents (Adam and Eve) had already been banished from Eden in the previous chapter, after the incident with the “forbidden fruit.” Apart from Trumpist “evangelicals” and other fundamentalists, hardly anyone takes these accounts to be “historical” or literal. Rather, they are stories about growing up and leaving the world of childlike innocence for the world of adult experience. An angel guarding the gate to Eden with a flaming sword or not, the point is that there is no going back. In that sense, all of humanity which reaches adulthood abides east of Eden.

However…although we no longer live “in” Eden, according to the biblical accounts, Eden still exists. You wouldn’t be blamed for uttering an exasperated “Where?!” The answer is simple: Eden is all around us. It is found in all wild animals, farm critters and most pets. According to the biblical narrative the animals were never banned from Eden. And if, as I believe, the Genesis accounts are metaphors for states of being or states of mind, only animals–apart from humans–remain in their ‘Edenic state’ (if you will). And here, I must credit Francis of Assisi and Viktor Frankl with the kernels of this thought.

I have always loved animals of all sorts, and they have always been attracted to me. But it’s since I became a goatherd in rural France that I have truly come to appreciate the Edenic state of animals. They are always exactly what they are created to be, whether it be their ‘goatnicity’, or ‘dogness’. But let’s stick with goats as I love ’em! (By the way, the song about the lonely goatherd from “The Sound of Music” is non-sensical. One cannot be lonely with goats! It’s an existential impossibility.) For goats, their Eden–and their security–is embedded in their instincts. (This is true of nearly all animals, exccept those we have overbred for our desires.) They sniff and taste various plants to discover what is good for them. And because they are the closest thing to wild animals you can keep, they are always on the alert, ready to run for shelter if the slightest thing scares them. When the days shorten, their coats lengthen. Similarly, when the daylight begins to linger, they shed their coats. The goat’s four stomachs–like all ruminants–enables them to synthesize protein from plants which would utterly useless for our consumption. They even know which plants to eat in order to get rid of worms.

So as you can see, we who have become alienated from Eden, are much needier in terms of survival: food, seasonal clothing, shelter, medical care, and the need to earn money to satisfy all of our needs. We won’t even address human idiosyncrasies and mental health issues! (So if by now you haven’t envied a goat’s life then I haven’t done my job!) In many ways, those who advocate animal rights, the protection of endangered species, action over climate change and more, are actually the defenders of the vestiges of Eden. The English poet, John Milton, is best known for his epic poem, Paradise Lost. Hardly anyone remembers that he also wrote another poem entitled Paradise Regained. The only way that we can hope to regain Paradise or Eden is through reconciling ourselves to earth’s other species–plant and animal–and most of all, to each other. War and violence towards all living things can no longer be an option. Eden begins with you and me.