Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Ethan's Question

Ethan is my middle child.  He is 11 years old.  He is very special to me in a lot of ways.  When I was pregnant with him, we were deciding on a name.  This was the only pregnancy in which I knew for certain the sex of the child.  So, we didnt even think of girl names.  With Ransom, I had decided when I was a senior in high school what the name of my first boy would be.  With Ethan, I had no idea.  James (my husband)  liked Logan and Garrett.  Garett wasnt too bad, it is a derivative of Gareth, who was a knight in Arthurian legend.  Logan sounded like a surfer name, a little too trendy.
I had just read Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton.  What a desperate tale!  It depicts New England in such a dismal light, as well.  (We were living in Wisconsin at the time, but when Ethan was 3 months old, we moved to New Hampshire)   I liked the sound of Ethan and the name means 'strong and firm'.  Even though the character in the story was not a strong person, the tale haunted me and I liked the name. 
I looked Ethan up in the Bible and found he was a priest who sang.  There is even a Psalm he wrote  psalm 89.
Well, anyway, Ethan is special to me because he still tells me he loves me and hugs me.  He will even cuddle.  And he thinks outside the box.
On our way home from an Easter service (probably Maundy Thursday), Ethan asks me a very difficult question.   "If Eve was the only one who ate the fruit, and Adam never did, what would have happened?"  Wow.  It is true that whenever original sin is talked about, it is named the sin of Adam.  Does that mean that Eve disobeying God did not condemn all humanity to death and misery?
Why had I never heard this question before?  Maybe I am not reading the right books.  and where did Lilith come from anyway?  By the way Lilith by George MacDonald  is one of the craziest, psychedelic and beautiful books I have ever read.






No comments:

Post a Comment