The Paradox of Two Trees

Genesis 2:9, 16-17 (NIV)

The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:9, 16-17 (NIV)

And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

ParadoxAny person, thing, or situationexhibiting an apparently contradictory nature.

M. Scott Peck, M.D.Lessons for the Journey

“To think paradoxically, we must hold two opposites in our minds simultaneously. I’m not sure we humans are capable of thinking about two opposites. What we can do, however, is bounce back and forth – vibrate – between opposing concepts so rapidly as to make our consideration of them virtually simultaneous.

M. Scott Peck, M.D.Lessons for the Journey

When we learn how to do so, the two will become One and opposites a Whole. … If you have discovered a great truth, and it is not a paradox, then I suspect you may be deceiving yourself.”

Wil HernandezSpiritual Polarities: A Life of Tension

“To surrender to love is akin to risking, to letting go of one’s proclivity to control, thereby opening oneself to vulnerable living, and consequently inviting the real prospect of suffering.”

Genesis 3:1-5 (NIV)

“Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

Genesis 3:1-5 (NIV)

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Genesis 3:22-23 (NIV)

The Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”

Genesis 33:4 (NIV)

But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept.

Genesis 33:10 (NIV)

“If I have found favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favorably.”

Luke 22:19 (NIV)

And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

Eucharisteo

Thanksgiving

Eucharist

Eucharisteo

Charis = GraceEucharist

Grace that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness,

charm, loveliness

Eucharisteo (Eucharist)

Joyful Thanksgiving

Ann VoskampOne Thousand Gifts

“The holy grail of joy is not in some exotic location or some emotional mountain peak experience. … The only place we need to see before we die is this place of seeing God, here and now.”

Ann VoskampOne Thousand Gifts

“Is the height of my joy dependent on the depth of my thanks? …As long as thanks is possible, then joy is always possible.”

Revelation 22:1-5 (NIV)

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month.

The Paradox of Two Trees