Post #132 "Beyond the Walls'

Let's go beyond those walls of division. Let's look to our ancient stories once again. What do walls in a vast wilderness stand for? What do walls in a wilderness say about the builder of walls and about those people affected by the walls? What does the ancient mythological, biblical story in the Book of Genesis, of Cain and Abel, the sons of Adam and Eve really say? Have theologians down through the centuries missed the point? Could it be that the story is about walls...walls in a vast wilderness? Cain is said to have killed his brother, Abel out of jealousy, that God preferred Abel's ways to Cain's ways. Cain was jealous. He wanted something Abel had. It is like humanity wanting to become God, but God standing in the way and having to be removed for the transference to take place. And so humanity/Intelligence built the walls of creation....to keep itself in and to keep God out. Division. Loss of identity.

Supposing the story really represents the wilderness and civilization. Abel, as herdsman, as nomad, would represent the ways of the wilderness, of nomadic living.....no building, no digging, no planting or reaping, just tribal living on the shared assets of the tribe rather than personal and private ownership. This way of life would eradicate jealousy and possessiveness and entrepreneurship and all ways competitive. Cain, on the other hand, as the tiller of the soil, as the planter, as reaper would, consequently, need possession/ownership of the Land. Here, at the very first glimmers of history we can make out the outlines of the controversy in Israel/Palestine that has raged throughout history and has no intention of being settled....the jealousy for a better way, for a different way, for ownership, all resulting in for division. The need for possession, the need for the power of possession, the need to divide from the old way, led Cain to clear the land, to till and plant, and to harvest... all needing land...all needing possession of the Land. Cain needed Land. Cain need The Land. Cain needed the Land Flowing With Milk and Honey. Cain needed the land of Israel/Palestine which stands for all the land on this planet. But this land was necessary for in this Land, God entered the world. Jerusalem was the navel of God's entrance. Cain needing the Land Abel shared with the tribes of the Land, the lands where they migrated to feed and water their flocks.

Abel was in Cain's way! Until now anyone could use the land! The Land was home. It was owned by everyone. Now the Land is all about ownership and the accompanying violence. "I have worked this land, hewed it out of the wilderness, tilled it and planted it....It is Mine! I will build a wall. The wall means that this is MY land. This wall means that you must stay out. If you trespass, you will be punished. YOU may even be killed. I, Cain will kill you, Abel, my brother for possession of the land". And he did. And Abel's God, the God of the tribes, was displeased for this is where violence was born.

But what the story means is that civilization killed a way of life that was basic and wholesome for humanity and for the Land. The land of the tribal nations was forcefully and violently taken from them by those who were of violence and possession...those who knew greed and jealousy. These people who desired to possess the land, destroyed those who were not of the same determination and drove them from their home and their way of life. There was no other way, really, Cain just had to kill Abel, as civilization had to and has to kill the wilderness-- for the two cannot co-exist. Israel and Palestine are proof.

The next step was easily predictable. Law! When there is ownership and violence, Law is needed. Formation of The Law followed. Laws are now needed to protect property and ensure safety. And this amounts to Civilization. Civilization is the father of science and technology. Here it all began. Civilization demands Law. It's all there in the ancient stories. The story of The Garden, the story of the murder of Abel by his brother , Cain, and the story of Moses. Its all about the Promised Land. The Land that was promised to Israel and also to Palestine. The story of Moses and the Ten Commandments--- its really the story of the beginnings of civilization and the establishment of the Law, all governing the possession of the Land.