Saved by Silence...Almost

God's discourse with Cain caught my attention recently. God is pursuing him, especially in that critical period before he murdered Abel; God pursues him with a heart of a father imparting the one thing needful which, if applied, could have averted Cain's spiritual demise.

My attention was initially caught by the phrase "his recourse shall be to you; and you shall rule over him", speaking of Abel. That is speaking of Cain's relationship toward Abel, but I remembered the translation from Bibles growing up (that is, those translated from the Hebrew text) talking about Cain's relationship with sin: "And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it."

That "recourse" phrase was knocking around in my head when I read the previous chapter and noticed identical language used with Eve: "Your recourse will be to your husband, and he shall rule over you." The meaning of this "recourse" word is not the point of this article, but here is a funny side note: I looked up that word "recourse", to see what the word was in Greek and for possible other shades of meaning. You know what it is? ἀποστροφὴ ...that's "apostrophe"! Cain will apostrophe you. Eve will apostrophe to Adam. So, thinking along lines of how the idea of an apostrophe helps understand these relationships in Genesis, I picture that as 'refer back to'.

With all this talk of Cain and Abel's relationship, God seems to be consoling Cain. And the key word is this: "Be still." Cain's "countenance fell" when his sacrifice was not accepted. Immediately after this interaction with God, carried away in his passions concerning his brother and the sacrifice, Cain slays his brother. In this crucial moment, before Cain is to make such a disastrous choice, God comes to him and gives him the one thing he needs to hear, the antidote to the poison in his soul.

God tries to soothe Cain, but the one thing, the central idea he wants to get across to Cain is one word: "Be still", ἡσύχασον, hesychasm, quiet down and patiently listen to the Lord. This hesychastic idea is the fundamental focus of the spiritual life in Orthodoxy, and I will come back to it and try to unpack it a little bit more. For now, though, see this picture of our loving God, intervening with Cain before his self-destruction spirals out of control. And the one thing Cain (and all of us) needs is to be still, get quiet, patiently listen to the Lord. That is the antidote to the passionate poison in our souls, too.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Did Christ Dwell Among or In Us?

How to Pray for Ukraine

The Making of a Thai Paschal Troparion