EXILE
(Sunday of Adam’s Exile from Paradise)
This Sunday immediately preceding the beginning of Lent recalls the Exile from Paradise, inviting us to embrace “Adam’s Lament” over a Paradise Lost. How and why should we relate to the whole topic of *Exile*, which is a leitmotif of Great Lent? Note that it’s also the main theme of Psalm 136/137, By the Rivers of Babylon…, chanted in our churches these past three Sundays. So, there’s something very important about *Exile* that we’re meant to recognize as part of our human (or human-divine) story, as we enter into the voluntary, communal *Lament* of the Lenten season.
We all experience some form of exile, or separation from something or someone beloved, at some point in our lives. Some of us are from war-torn or otherwise troubled countries, which we had to leave and which we might miss. Some of us have experienced a painful divorce from a once-beloved spouse. Others of us might have lost our jobs; or lost a loved one who passed away, and we might feel lost without them. Maybe we have experienced burnout in this or that occupation, and feel we have lost ourselves. Or maybe we have lost our freedom by slipping into a crippling addiction or obsession, which now alienates us from others, to some degree.
These are all different experiences that can help us relate to the biblical narratives related to *Exile*. And we can channel our pain toward and into the healing hands of a loving Father, our loving God, who clothes us (as He made clothing for Adam and Eve at the end of Genesis 3) before entrusting us with the new, productive work we are given to do henceforth in our Exile. This “work” is described in Genesis 3 as bearing children and working the soil, symbolizing the kinds of God-given creativity we are blessed with in different ways, our creativity that brings forth new life in our world.
It’s not a joyless or unproductive “lament,” is my point, even while we do have this hole in our hearts that “remembers” our Paradise Lost. On the way of the cross, which is always leading to resurrection, our pain is transfigured into new life, with God’s blessing and “clothing.” The new clothing in the era of the Church is our being clothed in Christ, all of us who are baptized in Christ. We’re getting back in touch with this reality, with these truths, throughout Lent, so we can “re-story” ourselves and regain a proper perspective of our common, human-divine story, which is neither meaningless nor purposeless in our Exile. Anyway, these are a few thoughts on our upcoming, dignifying journey towards Pascha. Happy upcoming Lent to you, dear friends. Forgive me and pray for me a bit, if you could.
Meditation from Sister Vassa