Articles
The First Family - 4
God’s command to Adam and Eve to “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it” (Gn 1:28) should have been implemented with unmitigated joy. However, the sin that they introduced had made mastery of the earth and the bearing of children more strenuous propositions. Furthermore, the sin which at first appeared in a more benign form is about to mutate into a deadly strain.
The bearing of children is not merely an act of biological reproduction but the extension of family love among the human race. There is a natural bond between parents and their offspring that defies description. Eve named her firstborn “Cain” in her acknowledgment that “I have gotten a man from the Lord” (4:1). To perceive the signs of life within the womb, and later to visibly behold the child jointly created by man and God, evokes a self-sacrificial love.
Additionally, there is a fraternal affection between those created and nurtured by the same parents. Sharing the same household, experiences, ancestry and other elements of commonality produces a unique bond among brothers and sisters which provides defense, support and other privileged assets.
But sin is so powerful that, under the right circumstances, it can perpetrate the most brutal acts even against family. Out of bitter jealousy, and against the warning of God, Himself, “Cain rose against Abel his brother and killed him” (4:3-8). Thus, for the first time, the ground is stained with innocent blood.
What grief this must have brought to Adam and Eve! They are deprived of a godly son through violence. Their eldest son is driven from their presence as punishment for his crime (4:11ff). And the guilt they bore for having introduced sin into the world must have been enormous. Like so many sinners since, surely they did not anticipate that their faults would carry such devastating consequences.
One parental duty is to augment our children’s sibling affection with genuine love and respect for each other. Yes, occasional fusses and disagreements will arise among those living in close quarters, but these must be quelled and not allowed to harden into perpetual dislike and ill will.
As a younger parent I often wished that I could preserve my children at an age where their lives are controlled by sheer dictatorial authority. But this is not to be. Children will eventually make their own choices which will profoundly affect their nuclear families. If they make the wrong choices and blame us for them, I’d rather be resented for aggressively teaching them what was right than for neglect, cowardice or indifference. My children’s sins will break my heart, but I can handle the former excuse. I don’t know if I could live with the latter.
(adapted from Hueytown Bulletin, 1/30/2000).
