What if the Garden of Eden story was not about banishment but awakening? How might that change the way we experience this world?
Week 3 - Sacred Ache: A Becoming Real Workshop
“The banishment is in the storyteller, not in the story — and that storyteller is not just the ancient writer of Genesis. It is us - you and me. Every day we repeat the misunderstanding, telling ourselves stories of exile, of unworthiness, of loss. We can choose to tell another. We can choose to see the truth. The garden is always there, waiting for us to see it.”
Recap of Sacred Ache, so far:
In our first week, Dear One, I am really here for you, we explored what it means to feel truly at home in your own presence. “We often think of loneliness as a longing for others, but beneath that ache lies a deeper truth: we are lonely for ourselves. This week, we gently reintroduce ourselves to the companionable presence of our own deep self.”
In our second week, A thirsty fish in water, we took an integration/feel better pause.
In last week’s module, I lost my voice. Because I had to be silent, I was able to hear, we entered silence as a space.
When we began three (long) weeks ago, I thought Sacred Ache was about one thing. Today, it is something else entirely.
In wandering through the ache of separation and loneliness, we have arrived—almost without meaning to—at one of the oldest stories of exile: the story of Eden.
The Discovery at the Top of the Hill
As I’ve worked on these modules, I’ve realized that all I want to do with you is dive into the essential teaching I discovered one day at the top of the hill—between the devastated orchard and the buzzing beehives.
Indeed, this whole workshop—Sacred Ache—emerged from what I realized that day:
When we focus on what we are missing, we miss what we have, where we are, who we are.
The great misunderstanding is this: That we could ever be banished. That awakening (eating from the tree of knowledge) is cause for exile. That being born into his world is a punishment.
This Week: Reclaiming Eden
This week, we transform Eden from a story of loss into a story of awakening.
By deliberately reclaiming beauty and the world’s splendor now, I invite you into an incredibly potent shift of perspective. I’ll share what I experienced and invite you to have your own encounter with Shekinah.
I’m so glad you’re still with me. This journey takes us deep into one of the foundational stories of Western culture—the Garden of Eden—asking:
What if we had it wrong all along?
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Introduction & Reflection: Eden as a Story of Awareness
"We often think of Eden as a paradise lost, a place we can never return to. But what if Eden was never behind us, but always around us, waiting for us to see? What if exile was not about punishment, but about perception—about stepping into the fullness of our own wisdom?"
This Week’s Passage
For a long time, I couldn’t experience beauty.
Sunrises, symphonies, a particular shade of blue—I knew they should move me because I heard others speak of them with awe. Wanting what they had, I would wake early for the sunrise, sit in a darkened theater, stand before vast mountain vistas.
But I felt nothing. Just a blankness where beauty should have been.
I knew something was missing. I wanted to feel inspired, uplifted, filled with light. But I felt…flat.
And this troubled me.
So I went looking for beauty. I asked beauty to find me, to pursue me. And she did.
I made myself leave the house. I walked the farm. I veered off the main path into the forest. I stood among the white birch trees and listened to the wind susurrate through the leaves.
And one day, I felt it.
The realization came like a waterfall.
One moment, I was alone—a human walking through a landscape of inanimate plant life. The next, I was surrounded by friends.
The whispering wind was speaking—to me. The creatures rustling through the leaves at the edge of the path were responding to me.
Some shift had happened.
I had been alone—exiled. And then, suddenly, I was held inside a womb-like space.
Nature herself surrounded me—above, below, around me. The wind brushed my face, cool and knowing. The trees swayed as if nodding. The golden light dappled my hands, as if in blessing.
She was everywhere.
She was all for me.
And the relatedness of that realization broke over me like sunlight.
I can feel beauty now. I can experience it. And so, lately, like someone who was blind and can suddenly see color, beauty has been overwhelming me—because it is in everything, everyone, everywhere.
I laughed out loud when I realized:
The thing I was seeking was never lost. It was already in me.
That’s the Eden realization, too, isn’t it?
The garden is here. We are the ones who forgot.
And we did not forget because we are irresponsible, unconscious, or self-sabotaging.
We forgot because we were misled.
The storytellers we encountered—at school, in church, in picture books—weren’t trying to confuse or cause harm. They, too, had been misled. Right from the start.
Imagine that at the genesis of the story, someone saw only a part of what was happening. And in their telling, something essential was left out.
That omission shaped everything that followed.
But now, revisiting the story, you are allowed to change it.
Did you know that?
Did you know that even ancient scriptures are meant to be a living, interactive invitation into dialogue? A flexible, evolving workshop—changing with the times?
You are meant to be Adam. And Eve. And so is everyone else.
Begin by reflecting on these questions:
What is your personal “Eden”—a place, memory, or state of being that represents both comfort and transformation?
What if exile is not departure, but a shift in seeing?
Guided Meditation: The Garden of Eden
Moving beyond the illusion of exile into the presence of Beauty
Listen to the meditation. Come to your journal and reflect:
What did you see in the garden?
What did you sense, smell, feel?
What gifts did you find in the garden?
What did the being at the gate tell you - or give to you?
When you are finished, move to the next exercise : The Beauty Walk.
The Beauty Walk: Seeing Eden in the Present
This week, take a walk with this intention:
I will see the world as Eden, just as it is.
If Eden is not behind us, but all around us, let this walk be an act of re-seeing. Notice how Beauty reveals itself when we are willing to look again.
If Eden is about perception, then perhaps memory is, too. We can revisit the places where we felt exiled and find the Beauty that was always waiting for us. Try this:
Re-Exploring Memory as a Pathway to Return:
Reflect on the following:
Where have I believed myself to be exiled?
What truths, experiences, or sources of joy did I think were lost to me?
What happens if I un-exile myself from Eden?
Can I recognize that Eden is not a place, but a way of seeing?
What happens when I allow myself to fully receive Beauty?
Write freely, without judgment. Let your words arrive as fragments, images, sensations—rather than structured thought.
Whether in discussion or quiet reflection, consider: What shifts when we stop seeking an outside paradise and instead awaken to the presence of Beauty within and around us?
(in this image of my daughter, helping me in the garden, notice what else is here. Just behind her, the statue of a woman, holding out an open bowl. Imagine these two women - one young, one ancient and symbolic, are in conversation with one another - transmitting wisdom about life and how it gifts itself to us. Something about a garden, about beauty spread around us everywhere we look.)
Invitations to Expansion
Try one of these, if you feel called:
Reexamine a Photo
Take a second look at a photo of yourself (or a beloved other). Make it a photo that you like. Look closer. Besides the person in the photo, what else is present? A tree, an animal, a street sign, a piece of clothing. Is there something—a shape, a gesture, an echo—that suggests a hidden relationship?Write a Letter to Beauty
Dear Beauty… I am writing to you today as if speaking to a long-lost friend… Let this letter be a doorway. What would you tell Beauty? What might she say back to you?Pretend:
Imagine that Beauty is speaking to you, in its own language of sensation and color and sense impression. Just make this up. If Beauty were speaking to me right now, what might it be saying?These invitations are always optional but I encourage you to try them. The more that you engage, the more pathways open before you and inside you.
This week, remember:
“The banishment is in the storyteller, not in the story. The garden is always there, waiting for us to see it.”
I look forward to hearing about your experience in The Garden this week. Leave your thoughts, impressions, questions in the comments below or come over here, and leave a note.