At the time God made Earth and Heaven, before any grasses or shrubs had sprouted from the ground—God hadn’t yet sent rain on Earth, nor was there anyone around to work the ground (the whole Earth was watered by underground springs)—God formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive—a living soul! Then God planted a garden in Eden, in the east. He put the Man he had just made in it. God made all kinds of trees grow from the ground, trees beautiful to look at and good to eat. The Tree-of-Life was in the middle of the garden, also the Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil.
  A river flows out of Eden to water the garden and from there divides into four rivers. The first is named Pishon; it flows through Havilah where there is gold. The gold of this land is good. The land is also known for a sweet-scented resin and the onyx stone. The second river is named Gihon; it flows through the land of Cush. The third river is named Hiddekel and flows east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.
  God took the Man and set him down in the Garden of Eden to work the ground and keep it in order.
 God commanded the Man, “You can eat from any tree in the garden, except from the Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil. Don’t eat from it. The moment you eat from that tree, you’re dead.”
 God said, “It’s not good for the Man to be alone; I’ll make him a helper, a companion.” So God formed from the dirt of the ground all the animals of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the Man to see what he would name them. Whatever the Man called each living creature, that was its name. The Man named the cattle, named the birds of the air, named the wild animals; but he didn’t find a suitable companion.
 God put the Man into a deep sleep. As he slept he removed one of his ribs and replaced it with flesh. God then used the rib that he had taken from the Man to make Woman and presented her to the Man.Â
The Man said,
   “Finally! Bone of my bone,
      flesh of my flesh!
   Name her Woman
      for she was made from Man.”
      Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and embraces his wife. They become one flesh.
      The two of them, the Man and his Wife, were naked, but they felt no shame.
“no shame”
I’ve been trying to imagine a world with no shame. Relationships with no shame, religion/spirituality with no shame, whole hearted, uninhibited life with no shame. I’m finding it an incredibly exciting idea and at the same time, as it really sinks in, so foreign that’s it’s hard to fully take in.
I wanna be shameless!
for me the naming thing is fascinating!! In our family we have had to have naming ceremonies for the soft toys – and believe me we have a lot!! I had to pray for the toys!! and name them… I have named my guitar – yes sad I know! but it is by naming things and people that somehow we can articulate our journey….and that can sometimes be helpful to others
It is often by naming things that any fear related to them becomes slightly smaller too -
\’It’s not good for the Man to be alone\’
I enjoy company but there are times I love being alone……a lot, an awful lot!
Having been single for 36 and a half years and living on my own for 10 years until I got married last year I have realised, reflecting on a year and a half of marriage to a lovely wife with an beautiful, inherrited daughter, that we\’re not…I\’m not… designed to be alone.
I still love being alone and still crave my own space, perhaps now more than ever…..but too much being alone for me far from helping me, actually hinders me, I can often dwell on my failures and weaknesses to the point of selfish indulgence. I now have a wife who at times has to tell me to \’snap out of it\’ (and I love her for it…..although not necessarily at the time!!) or who can walk with me and put perspective on things in a way that I can\’t.
God, God, God
I love the way all this happens around God. This passage speaks so much of the how God is in control. I guess we sometimes miss Him so we cannot recongise how God wants to lead us, so we take control off Him. Neat and scary at the same time.
Whenever it comes to this passage I am struggling with the Tree of Knowledge – and can\’t stop asking the simple question: why is there this threat of death for the very moment when real understanding, the knowledge of Good and Evil, is to be achieved?
OK – it is paradise – not our real life which is impregnated at every single moment with testimonies of Good and Evil – but wouldn\’t it be oh so necessary to complete the peace of that very creative moment by furthering the full depth of understanding?
And I truly empathize with Dot – the naming is really great, as giving a name acknowledges existence, individuality and value of the other. It is the bringing into ones own being the reality of the other. Furthermore the choice of name becomes relevant – as name can be imprinted program and fate. By that the act of \’naming\’, appropriated by the first human, is an indicator of taking responsibility, leadership ( of the cooperative style I would like to believe ) and care.