Our world is a place of magnificent beauty, existing all around us yet so rarely appreciated. We are too busy, it seems, to stop for a moment and savor the sweet flavor of being, yet there it all is, great and small, whether we stop to notice it or not. There is the obvious beauty of a golden sunset or a majestic mountain, and there is the far more subtle beauty of a beetle on a tree branch or a patch of moss on a shaded stone. Yet all of these are wondrous-- every fallen leaf, every bit of earth around us proclaims its place in the grand scheme of existence. While it is easy to sit and admire something so impressive as a sunset, it is the little things that truly show us that in the great mandala of being, every one of us is an important part. It is these small things to which we can best relate. Through them we may realize that if the merest pebble can possess such strength, that if the bend of a twig can display such grace, then they, and we, must be integral elements in the artful pattern of the universe. Their beauty is as amazing as that of a starry night, no less so for their diminutive size. In these small things we may find ourselves and come to recognize the beauty that surrounds us. Our world is an amazing symphony of sights and sounds, sensations beyond measure. It would benefit us greatly, both individually and as a whole, to take the time to appreciate its wonder.
      I‘ve recently read a wonderful book by Dr. Lin Yutang, titled The Importance of Living, wherein he shares his very warm and wise views on living life and finding happiness. Dr. Lin discusses a wider variety of topics than I believe has ever been squeezed into one book, but all with the intention of pointing the reader in the direction of a peaceful, enjoyable existence. He discusses the appreciation of the little things in life, which are, after all, the important ones.
      On the subject of learning to appreciate the things around us, Dr. Lin touches upon the topic of the Biblical story of Eden and mankind’s expulsion from the Garden. He objects, he says, to the supposition that the beautiful world we perceives around us could have been intended as any sort of punishment by an ancient, angry God. Dr. Lin’s sublime appreciation of our world is so profound that such an idea does not sit well with him.

          

      I so strongly agree with Dr. Lin that I felt a resounding chord struck within me. He is absolutely correct, the world we live in is a wonderful and amazing place, filled with indescribable beauty and wonders beyond compare. So how did this story of the loss of Paradise come about? It turns out this is a fascinating account, indeed.
      Dr. Juris Zarins is a respected and successful archeologist with extensive experience in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Oman and Yemen. He was chief archeologist for the Transarabia Expedition, which made the important discovery of the ancient city of Ubar in 1992. The following is his well-researched hypothesis regarding the origins of the Eden myth.
      Beginning at around 30,000 BCE, the climate of Earth entered an arid period that lasted nearly 25,000 years. This was a period of harsh living for generations beyond count, during which the extreme difficulty of the struggle for survival was well and deeply engrained into the early human experience. Most Paleolithic peoples moved away from the Mesopotamian valley at this time, in search of less hostile regions. Then around 6,000 BCE, there began a climactic period known as the Neolithic Wet Phase, which at long last broke this arid spell. In this new period of abundant rain, the areas just north of the Persian Gulf became once again green and fertile. It is during this period that humans developed the art of agriculture, so it was a time of plenty in every sense. Certainly a time to look back upon as “paradise on Earth.” It was during this time of plenty that the older hunter-gatherer tribes returned to the region and discovered these “farmers,” strange new tribes who settled in lush valleys and grew their food wherever they wished.
      The term Eden (or Edin) was a Sumerian word meaning “fertile plain.” In addition, the word Adam referred to a “village or settlement on a plain.” Although these words were first written in Sumerian cuneiform, there origin is even older, a forgotten language known only as Proto-Euphratian. Adam was the rich city on the fertile plain, viewed by outsiders as the ultimate in happiness and security. Then, between 5,000 and 4,000 BCE there occurred a geological event known as the Flandrian Transgression, which caused a rise in sea levels worldwide. The Persian Gulf expanded, and as it moved northward completely consumed Eden (the fertile plain) and Adam (the village on the plain). Thus were the people expelled from paradise. In fact, the Sumerians held that their ancestors came “out of the sea,” and with this account we can clearly see how such a claim originated. In later years, as tribes moved southward into the areas now occupied by these displaced people, they were sure to hear stories of their horrible expulsion from paradise, about the forced march from idyllic leisure to harsh labor, and repeated these accounts among themselves until they became legend. Among these newly arrived was a tribe known as the Kashshites, who conquered most of Mesopotamia around 1,500 BCE. Their rule lasted six centuries, and the early Hebrew tribes were sure to have interacted with them. In this way the old myths and tales of Mesopotamia could have reached them and become woven into the fabric of Hebreic history and religion, to ultimately reach their current prominent position in the Book of Genesis.
      Whether this hypothesis is precisely correct or not, it should open our eyes to the many possible realities behind our simplest beliefs. It is amazing to me how quickly the simple stories of our respective faiths become complex and intricate accounts when we delve curiously into them. Such curiosity need not invalidate the religious tales we are taught as children, although I believe that is precisely the fear in the heart of many “religious” people. We should not be afraid to learn about our sacred cows, because to get to know them is to love them the better. To learn where these stories come from can only make them richer in their humanity, and thus more relevant to us. And whether ultimately we come to believe in some of the tales as literal and some of them as allegory, they are all intended to provide us with spiritual enrichment, to teach and to guide. So it is not the literal word that is crucial, but the intention behind the word that will lead us to be better, more compassionate human beings. When it comes to matters of faith, we must strive to contemplate the words of our ancestors, rather than simply memorize them.
      As to the lovely Earth, our blessing and our birthright, what right have we to complain and to grumble, squandering our amazing gift of awareness and experience? How easily we’ve come to believe that the world was once much grander and more beautiful, that through the commission of a single sin we were cast into our present “hellish” existence. Such a tale, perhaps, would appeal to a struggling tribe who for hundreds of generations had known only desert wandering and distant dreams of a verdant paradise, but today we know the world, more or less in its entirety, and we can see that it is marvelous indeed. Viewing our majestic Earth as a place of punishment is a concept that sits no better with me than it did with Dr. Lin. If this breathtaking world is my land of atonement, my den of suffering, then I am delighted that it is so. Leave me here to wither away in happiness, immersed in the torture of wonder and fancy that is our life in this world. I will succumb eagerly to the lilting birdsong, to the endless shapes and colors in the wondrous pantheon of plants and flowers. I will give myself up to the brilliant blue sky, to the rhythmic beatings of the ocean waves. I offer myself to the moon and the sun, to the breeze and the clouds. The fluttering leaves will entrance me and the graceful, endless forms of nature carry me to oblivion. I will walk the hills and trails of sweet dreams and ancient forests. I will endure the passion of a thunderstorm, the delicate touch of snowfall on my cheek, the glow of the moon on a cloudless evening. Let all of these earthly tortures be mine. If we have truly been cast into a prison of the spirit by a spiteful god, then I shall be happy and eager to serve out my sentence, here in our wondrous paradise, Earth.

      Sources:
      Lin Yutang, The Importance of Living, 1937
      Dora Jane Hamblin, "Has the Garden of Eden Been Located at Last?", 1983
      Tibor Krausz, "Paradise Found", 1999