Original Blessing
Listen: “The Blessing” with Kari Jobe & Cody Carnes
In 2019 I was buried in the deepest shame I have ever experienced. I didn’t care if I lived or died. My worst failures which I privately confessed had been publicly exposed in December of 2018 while I was in rehab. I hated myself. I was humiliated. I wanted to disappear from the planet (or at least from Kansas City).
A friend from the National Prayer Breakfast mailed me a copy of Richard Rohr’s book, Falling Upward, which got my faith off the ventilator. I started reading all the books Richard referenced which led me to Original Blessing by Matthew Fox. These two books provided valuable perspectives which ignited my journey of healing from shame.
Unfortunately, many Christian traditions have taught people to live out of a concept called “original sin” instead of “original blessing.” In the Bible, “original blessing” is the ancient story of creation in Genesis 1 & 2. There are deep truths in this ancient creation story which speak to our true identity, our true self. However, many Christians skip Genesis 1 & 2 and start the Christian story in Genesis 3, which is a story about shame.
Shame is a human experience, but it is not our true identity. Sociologist/author Brené Brown has spent her professional career studying the damaging effects of shame and how to heal from shame. She defines shame as “the intensely painful feeling or experience of believing that we are flawed and therefore unworthy of love and belonging—something we’ve experienced, done, or failed to do makes us unworthy of connection” (brenebrown.com, January 15, 2013). It usually results in a harsh inner critic which tells us we are “never good enough.”
In Genesis 3, humanity experiences shame (Adam and Eve), but shame does not come from God. God never stops loving and never stops pursuing humanity. Shame is a human condition which causes us to think we aren’t worthy of love. We separate ourselves from belonging and connection because we don’t feel worthy. Shame shatters our human dignity and causes us to live in the shadows of superficiality and isolation. Shame is never healthy (which is different than guilt) and can only be healed through our own vulnerability and the unconditional love we can offer ourselves as well as receive from God and other special, loving, grace-based humans.
If we live out of shame (Genesis 3), then our origin story can sound something like this: “Human beings are conceived and born in sin. Humans are so dirty and rotten that they deserve to burn in hell for all eternity. Humans are desperately wicked at the core of their being.” What parent holds their first-born child and thinks such destructive thoughts? I can’t look at a newborn without believing in God. Babies are crazy good and beautiful, and I’ve always wanted to be a father and experience the transforming, unconditional loving bond of parenthood.
Shame is not the original ancient story, but it is often portrayed as such by some Christian traditions. In Genesis 1 & 2, we find a noble story of human origins, a deeper truth about the human condition. It goes something like this:
Original Goodness. As creation unfolds, God delighted in the goodness and beauty of all creation, including human beings. God declared over and over again: “It is good!” Genesis 1 & 2 were written in poetic prose, so it’s like God was singing over creation with love as creation bursts forth.
Original Creativity. As God sings and creation bursts forth, God called all creation to “multiply” or “co-create” with God. A loving God calls all creation to thrive with creative energy—singing, dancing, laughing, celebrating, innovating, dreaming, loving, serving, nurturing, painting, gardening, skipping, surfing, climbing, sailing, caring, cooking, eating, drinking, building, harvesting, planting, and growing. Creativity is at the heart of the human experience as we partner with God to create beauty and loving community.
Original Dignity. “So God created human beings in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27; NLT). Matthew Fox quotes the German Christian mystic, Meister Eckhart: “…hidden in all of us is something like the original outbreak of all goodness, something like a brilliant light that glows incessantly and something like a burning fire which burns incessantly” (Original Blessing, p. 5).
Original Responsibility. “The Lord God placed the human in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it” (Genesis 2:15; my translation). The setting was a garden sanctuary, and the calling was our responsibility to care for the planet and all of creation: to lovingly tend, nurture, care, and participate in the beauty of nature. Nature explodes like a symphony, and we play our part as we participate in making love and music.
Original Community. “Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good for humans to be alone’” (Genesis 2:18; my translation). Forty years ago, only three percent of Americans reported having no friends. Today its thirteen percent. About twenty-eight percent of Americans die alone, without any friends or family around to love and support them. Isolation is the breeding ground for shame. Vulnerability is the pathway to healing shame. We need each other, especially in our struggles with shame.
This changes the human script, the inner voice of our true self and true identity. Even though we can experience shame and feel separated, we are never separated, never unloved, never cut off. The God of Love seeks connection through unconditional love. In Genesis 3:9, while Adam and Eve were hiding in shame, God pursued humanity: “Then the Lord God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’”
God’s love seeks to heal our shame and our brokenness. The divine spark of human dignity is never destroyed or abolished. Maybe marred and banged up, but not eliminated. The fire is always burning and so is God’s love. As the Apostle Paul reflects, “And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s children should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is” (Ephesians 3:18; NLT).
Our true identity from Genesis 1 & 2 sounds more like this: “We are people of breathtaking worth and dignity, created in the image of loving God. As sons and daughters of the God of the Universe, we are deeply loved and valued. We are called to be caretakers and co-creators of goodness, love, and beauty.”
“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love” (Romans 8:38; NLT).
Shalom
©realfredherron, 2023
