Into east of EDEN

If you are a James Dean fan or a movie buff, if you read John Steinbeck, or if you are familiar with the words describing the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise - then you know from whence the title of this article comes from.

"Therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden…and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden…to guard the way of the tree of life." Yes, these are the lines from Genesis 3:23-24. Though everyone of us knows the circumstances underlying this happening, there are still a lot of thoughts surrounding it for us to mull over. But, before we expound on that, allow me to refresh the minds of those belonging to the younger generations on the relation of James Dean and John Steinbeck here, since antiquity is involved.

John Steinbeck (1902-1968) is a renowned U.S. novelist who authored East of Eden. It is a powerful book that depicts the dramatic story of a righteous father, a sinful mother, a "good seed" son, a "bad seed" son, and a girl caught between the brothers. So, we have here a visualization of a family that is theatrically cast into the east of Eden.

This classic was made into a movie bearing the same title as the book and released in 1955. It was directed by noted film-maker, Elia Kazan. In this award-winning film, James Dean (1931-1955), the legendary screen actor, portrayed the role of Carl Trask, the alter-ego of Cain. That catapulted him to the symbol of the rebellious youth. Yes, he's that red-jacketed Rebel Without a Cause icon. Thus, at the east of Eden, Adam and Eve were booted out. And so were we. The man was subjected to till the soil, to toil to eat. The woman was condemned to go through great sorrows and childbirth pains. And so were we. They could not break into the east side as the vicinity was guarded. And so do we. This is deducing that the gates of Eden are at this side.

At this side or not, it doesn't matter anymore because Eden is long, long lost to us. All that we have to do is to make up for it in this world which, understandably, is outside of Eden. We still have a good chance. Sorry, that is not a return to Eden but a journey to another place God has promised us. You know where that is. Yes, it's Heaven - the big Eden, the original Eden, the second-chance Eden! See how magnanimous God is?

Life, of course, is not always sunshine and rainbows. It's got its share of the hard stuff, too. It's like we're spending time in prison. Day by day, we face the ugly grinds, hardships and uncertainties. We long to see the light, to have love, to hear laughter. It's really exasperating. But we should not gripe about it. We should, instead, be gracious because life is the launching pad to Heaven. Let's look at it this way. We fall from grace because of the "apple sin". It's of our own doing. So, we are punished, sentenced to hard labor. To work for a quick release, we have just to abide by the corrective measures and instructions, orders and rules imposed on us. In no time, we will be surely issued a ticket to ride heavenward. It's as simple as that.

Actually, there's a lot of ways to earn a free ride. If we possess the qualities of a concerned heart, a virtuous soul, a true believer, a good individual, a decent person - then we're in. It's easy. All it takes is to grab a copy of His #1 Best Seller. Go to Genesis and make that journey to east of Eden.