The Purpose of God

I suppose that the Lord God could have made of the first man a tree surgeon.  There seems to have been plenty of trees in Eden.  Or, maybe he could have been a forester.  It is also a possibility that Adam could have become the first river keeper.  Four rivers had their source in the Garden of Eden so there would have plenty of tending-to-the-rivers stuff to do. But, the Lord God had something else in mind.  Genesis 2:15 says, "The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and to keep it."  Does this mean that in the beginning the Lord God purposed humankind to tending the soil?

 

After retiring from work that allowed me to walk through the world without really seeing it. or appreciating it, or experiencing it, or touching it I wonder if I allowed myself to walk the wrong road.  Especially, have I mused over this in these retirement years which are being spent on a farm where my hands are constantly in the dirt and my spirit is learning to pay attention to what is around me.  While I do not think it is necessary to be a farmer to be inside the purpose of God, it does seem that it is necessary, whatever it is that we do to earn a living, to learn to live aware of the earth which provides our sustenance.  As children we loved to play in the dirt and never thought about getting dirty, but as adults we hardly ever touch the dirt and when we wash, it is not to wash away the dirt of day's labor.

 

I wonder if in the beginning the Lord God simply put the first man in a position where being aware of how every life was connected and dependent was most likely to happen.  I fear this is what we have lost in our journey from the garden covered with dirt to the marketplace covered in red tape and paper.  Maybe the Lord God did not purpose us all to be farmers, but surely it is true that He purposes us to be aware of where we are and upon Whom we are to depend for our place in the creation.