{"id":10845,"date":"2026-02-18T08:40:42","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T14:40:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/?p=10845"},"modified":"2026-02-17T22:13:43","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T04:13:43","slug":"february-22-2026-the-knowledge-of-good","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/february-22-2026-the-knowledge-of-good\/","title":{"rendered":"February 22, 2026 &#8211; The Knowledge of Good: God\u2019s Answer to Shame"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4 class=\"Body\"><b>Prepare<\/b><\/h4>\n<p class=\"Body\">If last week\u2019s text was weird, this text (Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7), commonly called the fall , has baggage. It is the story of the original sin, which we all inherit. So maybe it\u2019s a story about <i>our<\/i> baggage, but it also has some baggage of its own. It\u2019s weighed down by readings that continue the blame game of 3:12, which, even in the story, seems to make everything worse. Specifically, some interpretations of this text blame women for the fall. I would assume that people who know this story are familiar with those interpretations. I would assume people have <i>feelings <\/i>about those interpretations. It is important to acknowledge both those feelings and those readings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\">It is helpful to note that the blame game doesn\u2019t help. In verses 12 and 13, the man blames the woman, and the woman blames the serpent, and God assesses consequences on everyone. Blame is an attempt at control; however, there is so much of life that is always beyond our control.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\">In the article, I talk about guilt and shame. Guilt says, \u201cI did a bad thing,\u201d while shame says, \u201cI am bad.\u201d Both are important for this text. So, too, is reconciliation, where relationships are repaired and forgiveness is shared.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"Body\"><b>Opening Exercise<\/b><\/h4>\n<p class=\"Body\">Give participants a stack of scratch paper or some index cards. Read a word, and have participants write down or draw the first word, phrase, or icon (it\u2019s okay to invent one) that comes to mind. Count to three and then have the group reveal their response. Ask if anyone would like to share and explore together what is similar and what is different. Go as many rounds as make sense for your group. (I\u2019m grateful to Lyle Griner\u2019s <i>Really, Really Greats!<\/i> for this idea.)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"Body\">Fruit<\/li>\n<li class=\"Body\">Snake<\/li>\n<li class=\"Body\">Guilt<\/li>\n<li class=\"Body\">Shame<\/li>\n<li class=\"Body\">Good<\/li>\n<li class=\"Body\">Evil<\/li>\n<li class=\"Body\">Forgiveness<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"Body\">Alternatively, break up into pairs and ask:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"Body\">What is the difference between guilt and shame? Is one worse than the other?<\/li>\n<li class=\"Body\">How do you cope with feelings of guilt and shame?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"Body\"><b>Text Read Aloud<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Genesis%202%3A15-17%3B%203%3A1-7%0A&amp;version=NRSVue&amp;interface=print&amp;showfootnotes=no&amp;showxrefs=no&amp;showheadings=no&amp;showwoj=no\">Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7<\/a><\/p>\n<h4 class=\"Body\">The Knowledge of Good: God\u2019s Answer to Shame<\/h4>\n<p class=\"Body\">Isn\u2019t it strange that this story doesn\u2019t say that Eve\u2014and Adam\u2014felt <i>guilty<\/i> for eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_10847\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/02\/Encanto-900x814-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10847\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10847\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/02\/Encanto-900x814-1-300x271.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"271\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/02\/Encanto-900x814-1-300x271.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/02\/Encanto-900x814-1-768x695.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/02\/Encanto-900x814-1-250x226.jpg 250w, https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/02\/Encanto-900x814-1-387x350.jpg 387w, https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/02\/Encanto-900x814-1.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-10847\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Illustration by Kayla Shiao.<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"Body\">good and evil, but <i>ashamed<\/i> of their nakedness? Maybe it isn\u2019t that surprising, because surely they had bumped into one another accidentally while gardening, or taken the last bite of something the other was hoping to savor? Guilt is the feeling we have when we\u2019ve done something wrong\u2014accidentally or purposefully\u2014and we know it. Guilt says, \u201cI did something bad.\u201d But shame says, \u201cI <i>am<\/i> bad.\u201d When Adam and Eve eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, what they know first is shame.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\">The family Madrigal in the Disney movie <i>Encanto<\/i> knows something about shame (for a quick plot refresher, <span class=\"Hyperlink0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=CaimKeDcudo\">you can watch the trailer here)<\/a><\/span>. The family is ashamed because Bruno\u2019s gift doesn\u2019t work the way they want it to. And they are ashamed because Mirabel isn\u2019t given a magical gift like the rest of the family. Shame breaks apart their family\u2019s home.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\">The knowledge of evil seems to be this: things are tangled up for us, and that tangledness makes it hard for us to do what is right. We live within systems that tell us because we don\u2019t fit in just so, if we don\u2019t look just so, if we don\u2019t have certain things, then we should be ashamed. Adam and Eve realize they aren\u2019t, in a sense, dressed properly, and now they know it, and it makes them ashamed. In other words, the first thing they learn from the tree is not some new sin; it is that they are exposed as inadequate. They\u2019re ashamed. <i>That<\/i> is the knowledge of evil.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\">But if that\u2019s the knowledge of evil, what\u2019s the knowledge of good?<\/p>\n<h6><span style=\"color: #ffffff\">TITLE<\/span><\/h6>\n<p class=\"Body\">The knowledge of good is the antidote to shame. Shame isolates, but reconciliation reunites. After the Madrigals\u2019 Casita is destroyed by an earthquake, Mirabel runs away and her abuela finds her. They are <i>reconciled.<\/i> They work to repair their relationship and forgive one another. Think about <span class=\"Hyperlink0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=hrMxx8EV4JU&amp;list=RDhrMxx8EV4JU&amp;start_radio=1\">the last big singing number<\/a><\/span>. The family is all together, but the house is in ruins. Together, with their community\u2019s help, they rebuild Casita. The knowledge of good is that God is always making things right, and we\u2019re invited to be a part of it. That\u2019s reconciliation. That\u2019s the good.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\">Past the verses we read from this story, God gives consequences to the woman and the man and the serpent. They\u2019re all going to have to leave the garden, but God takes the time to make clothes for them. God sees their shame and works to make things right, moving toward them, not away from them. God doesn\u2019t abandon them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\">It can be tempting to treat this story like humanity\u2019s biggest mistake, but it certainly seems to me that this story is the beginning of God\u2019s biggest triumph. The theologian Richard Rohr points out that Jesus is God\u2019s Plan A, as in, Jesus isn\u2019t the backup plan because we messed everything up so badly. Jesus is God\u2019s ongoing pattern of reconciliation made visible. In Jesus, God is reconciling the world to God\u2019s self (2 Corinthians 5:19). God isn\u2019t counting our faults but working to restore relationship with us and with the world. This is the good.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\">This story can absolutely be the story about how sin entered the world. It can be the story about all the tangled-up realities of life on earth. It can be the story about broken relationships between God and humanity and between humans.<i> And<\/i> it can be the story about how God is committed\u2014from the very beginning\u2014to repairing, restoring, and reconciling. This is the knowledge of good.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"Body\"><b>Reflection Questions<\/b><\/h4>\n<p class=\"Body\">Read the text again.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"Body\">What did you notice in the story this time that you hadn\u2019t noticed before?<\/li>\n<li class=\"Body\">Why do you think God put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden in the first place?<\/li>\n<li class=\"Body\">What happens to Eve and Adam after they eat the fruit? What was supposed to happen?<\/li>\n<li class=\"Body\">How do you think God reacts to us when we mess up?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4 class=\"Body\"><b>Closing Activity &amp; Prayer<\/b><\/h4>\n<p class=\"Body\">Say a confession and forgiveness together, such as the one in Setting 12 in <i>All Creation Sings<\/i> (pgs. 29-30), or one that is familiar to participants. Before you begin, encourage them to listen for words of reconciliation: where God is forgiving and making things right for us, for everyone else, and for all of creation.<\/p>\n<h4><b>Bio<\/b><\/h4>\n<p>Adrianne Meier is an ELCA pastor who serves among the people at St. Thomas Lutheran Church in Bloomington, Indiana. When she\u2019s not working\u2014and even when she\u00a0<i>is<\/i>\u00a0working\u2014you can find her furiously knitting.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/09\/FaithLens_logoalt.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-10727\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/09\/FaithLens_logoalt-300x162.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"162\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/09\/FaithLens_logoalt-300x162.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/09\/FaithLens_logoalt-1024x551.png 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/09\/FaithLens_logoalt-768x414.png 768w, https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/09\/FaithLens_logoalt-1536x827.png 1536w, https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/09\/FaithLens_logoalt-250x135.png 250w, https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/09\/FaithLens_logoalt-650x350.png 650w, https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/09\/FaithLens_logoalt.png 1950w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Prepare If last week\u2019s text was weird, this text (Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7), commonly called the fall , has baggage. It is the story of the original sin, which we all inherit. So maybe it\u2019s a story about our baggage, but it also has some baggage of its own. It\u2019s weighed down by readings that continue [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":310,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1400],"tags":[16732,16733,158,16734,5975,16731],"class_list":["post-10845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-post","tag-genesis-215-17","tag-genesis-31-7","tag-guilt","tag-knowledge-of-good","tag-reconciliation","tag-shame"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>February 22, 2026 - The Knowledge of Good: God\u2019s Answer to Shame - Faith Lens<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What does the tree of knowledge really teach? 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