G‑d gave the creature, “Adam,” a name
And a safe lovely place where He might remain
Free from compulsion and free from all pain,
As long as he strode in G‑d’s gracious way.
But when He gave Adam that will of his own,
So devotion by him would always be free;
He also gave Adam His consent to rebel
By making a choice that might not be as good.
Freedom implies there is always a choice
To do what G‑d wants by suggestion or law
Or ignore His desire and go your own way,
Opposing the plan which He felt was the best.
For Man is composed of both angel and beast
Mixed in a cauldron with a slow rising yeast.
What might come out of a mixture like this
Is a final arrangement one cannot predict.
But G‑d understood the weakness of man
And gave him a helpmate to whom he’d relate
To share in his life and act as a mate
To give the world meaning by both night and by day.
A test was proposed to determine man’s fate
Which Adam would take along with his mate:
In return for the gift of a permanent life
They both must refrain from one tree that gave light.
A tree that tempted to make men like gods
Where they then could rule and be unopposed
By hearing a lie of a primeval world
In which everything there could be used as they chose.
But the bet would be lost, the temptation too great
For Adam was blind as to what was at stake.
Up to that point no one had yet died.
Until forced from the Garden, distant from G‑d.
Expelled from their home, their eyes opened wide
They learned of their fate and went their own way,
- Finding the Light of G‑d, page 64-65
