7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
8 And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
9 And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis 2:7-9 KJ)
* * * * *
Every person on the planet is on a quest in one way or the other. We are all searching for meaning, purpose, significance and value. This is especially difficult if you do not know what you are searching for.
Most people know they are searching for something: money, power, possessions, or pleasure. It really all boils down to purpose: Who am I? Why am I here? What should I be doing? Where am I going?
If you wrapped each one of these up into one bundle: it’s called purpose. And the greatest tragedy in life is not death, but it is life without a purpose. The challenge is knowing what to do. The mistake is being busy, but not effective. And the failure is being successful in the wrong assignment.
Augustine, African Church Father, said “our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee.” Here is the clue that cancels the confusion. Our purpose has to do with finding our place in God and more precisely our purpose. We are restless because so many are living outside their purpose and outside the divine design that determines our destiny. We are a people who seem to have lost our way.
It is if we were meant for a destiny different from the one we are living. It is as if we have strayed from the path of our purpose and found ourselves in a “far off country.” I see this so clearly as I look at our families and our community.
On the one hand we call ourselves a praying people and on the other hand we wind up preying on each other. Crime and violence in the Black community is directly related to the breakdown of the Black family coupled with the careless attitude of the powers that be.
Our only solution is to lock them up. Our jails are overcrowded because it is easier to lock them up rather than lift them up by providing more resources and programs aimed at rescue before than remedy after.
Gregory Smith, the so called “praying robber” is a symbol of a deep and dark crisis in this country. It is the crisis of the Black family and the Black community. Our Black boys have become an endangered species as far too many of them are winding up on drugs, in jail, or dead. They are dying because of the vicious cycle of boys, who never make the transition to responsible manhood and therefore are unable to be responsible fathers themselves. The Marion County Jail is full of boys who never became men because we all failed them. I wrote the book, Boys to Men, 20 years ago and my conclusions still hold true. Our children are not as ornery as they are abandoned. They are not as lost as they are left. Let’s get back to Eden.
The “praying robber” of Indianapolis is a poster boy for a broken system which includes the breakdown of the Black family, fatherlessness, joblessness and a nation who invests more in property than people. Crime and violence will never be solved by locking up our boys and men. The solution is not in locking them up but lifting them up through education, recreation, and intervention. Let’s get back to Eden.
I believe we want to come home. Home is the Kingdom of God. Home is the way it was supposed to be from the beginning: the place of destiny, dominion, and delight.
Donald Lawrence literally struck gold with his penning of the lyric: “Let’s Get Back to Eden and Live on Top of the World.”
When God made man, he made a spirit
It was his plan that we live blessed
The tempter came we were distracted
The tempter came and we fell
We were deemed to live a life that’s beautiful; a life that’s full; a life that’s rich and plentiful
It is my goal to remind you of this principle
You’re redeemed; a newborn soul
Let’s get back to Eden; live on top of the world
Well now it’s time we change our thinking
Know our design, and our Father’s plan
Oh yes, it’s time, we get back to Kingdom
Now is the time, we take our stand
We were deemed to live a life that’s beautiful; a life that’s full; a life that’s rich and plentiful
It is my goal to remind you of his principle
We’re redeemed; a newborn soul
Let’s get back to Eden; live on top of the world
Our families blessed; finances blessed
Our mind and spirit; and our bodies blessed
We were tempted and we fell
Jesus came now all is well
Let’s get back to Eden; live on top of the world
You may write to Bishop Benjamin at Bishop@lightoftheworld.org or at Light of the World Christian Church, 4646 N. Michigan Road, Indianapolis, IN 46228.
