*Crayon & pencil drawing by Sr Grace Remington, OCSO © 2005, Sisters of the Mississippi Abbey.

Shame. Can you imagine the shame Eve felt when she realized the weight of her mistake? A woman who walked carefree with her Creator in the cool of the day, as friends. Then one morning, the serpent came.

I’ve heard people over the years say, “Why did Eve have to eat the apple and screw it up for all of us?” But the truth is that every human heart has the potential to be deceived by the one who can’t do anything but lie, who often comes not screaming out obvious falsehoods but simply a quiet little twissst to the truth:

“Did God really say…?”

I saw this picture a few years back. It is titled simply, “Virgin Mary and Eve.” This picture is the gospel in a nutshell:

Eve stands with the serpent laced around her leg, binding her. Flushed cheeks and head down in shame. Holding an apple, THE apple, that marked her identity in history. Across from her is Mary, her feet crushing the head of the serpent. With one hand she lifts Eve’s head and the other she grabs Eve’s hand and places it on her pregnant belly. I imagine baby Jesus to be kicking in this captured moment.

“Do you feel that, Eve?”

Eve suddenly feels a strong kick – an echo of what was to come: Restoration of God’s original intention where wrongs are set right once again and shame is put to death, forever.