iLife...

I have been partially converted.  I have an iPod, granted it is an 8-year old 1st generation iPod video, and I recently entered the brave new world  of an iPhone and an iPad.  I am not quite ready to give up all my Microsoft based PC technology quite yet, but I am getting closer to that point.

Take a look around any electronics department in nearly any store you visit.  So many products are marketed as "iSomething".  It seems the world has jumped on the Apple bandwagon.

Apple is the new "savior" technologically speaking, improving productivity and collaboration between individuals and groups.  Bringing people together in new and exciting ways.

This wasn't always the case.  Apple, at one point in time, caused perhaps the greatest loss in communication, collaboration, and communion.  Sure, you all know the story.  Adam.  Eve.  Serpent.  Garden.  Ring any bells?

The basic back story is pretty well-known so I won't go into it (but you can read the build up in Genesis 1:1-3:7).  We will pick up in Genesis 3:8 (KJV):

"And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden."

This is probably the saddest verse in the Bible to me.  Two individuals-one flesh, man and woman, together in Eternity Past, in the garden, they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the cool of the evening and they hid from the presence of the Lord God.  The first recorded time humanity turned its collective backs (both of them) on God and went their own way.

Imagine walking with God through the garden in the cool of the evenings: taking your time for a nice stroll through the trees, enjoying being in the presence of "Daddy."  Having the ability to be physically in the presence of God, just walking: breath-taking! But it was common place for Adam and Eve before the Fall. And they lost it!

I could go into a long tirade about the cause of the Fall and who is to blame, but the Bible records quite a bit of blame throwing in verses 3:12-13.  Adam blames God for giving him the woman who gave him the fruit; Eve blames the serpent.  (My take is it was Adam's fault for not being the Spiritual Leader in his family, only because I compare it to my greatest failure in the past  Sure, the woman succumbed to the "Lust of the eyes and the pride of life"-2 John 2:16- when in verse 3:6  she "saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise").  But I digress...

In the long run, it was all part of the grand and glorious plan of God, which started in the garden with one tree, and ended with another tree and His only begotten Son hanging there, and gloriously resurrected three days later.

Before, you run out and look for the next new and great iProduct, think back to the original apple incident, and consider how much was lost.  Then, go home and spend a little time with the iAm.

Lord, bring me closer to You,  Let me walk with you and share a communion with you which cannot compare to anything else on earth.

Rejoice and be glad.