Eden's Garden

The Garden of Eden sure is a beautiful place. I haven't heard of anything that lovely in a long time. See, all the creation legends start off with a pretty place, yet few agree on its' location. Scripture is silent on this point as well. Though depending on who you asked, some would say their country is the best. I think they might have missed the question. Here the issue is not what place is most beautiful. If that was it, every mirror on the wall would tell you right as they begin to fall. So, then it is where exactly? You might be wondering yourself at this point. Notice the question given again: where is Eden? There is no map of this place given. Nor has man created such yet. Road signs and street names too are also foreign. You must rely on a few nonessential details.

To get there, you will need fruit trees that yield their fruits year-round. Have you got anything matching that description? Not yet? Well, that talking snake wasn't very helpful, was it? How about the angel with the flaming sword turning every which way? Have you got that? I mean you can find two trees just about anywhere with as many animals as you want. But the other two are a lot harder to find.

These would be considered landmarks if you will. Landmarks tell where something is. They make the difference between saying "over the river and through the woods" when you aren't sure what river and woods that person is talking about. I don't think you'll be getting to Grandma's house today. Maybe you might go to the big bad wolf's lair, but not Grandma's. These would be descriptors that tell something more about a place. Descriptors help tell us more about it and confirm that we have really reached our destination. Now, if I said, "the woods are lonely dark and deep with miles to go before I sleep," I'll let some of you tell where that would put me. The larger landmarks then are used to guide us to it. Regardless though, we will see what comes next soon. Perhaps a map won't be so hard to find after all. Let's try one more just for fun.

It's the plain mortar church beneath the tree with the wood beams and some papers inside. There you might also find some interesting classes. It's the one with the cup on the sign.

That has narrowed it down quite a bit, hasn't it? Oh, wait. That's you and me here. How do you know you're here? Think of the two primary ways of telling location useful without a map. There's landmarks and descriptors. Can you think of the landmarks? There's a cup on the sign is one and the interesting classes another. Well, they're interesting to me but they might not be to you. It's all a matter of personal preference as to whether you'll find them interesting or not. The tree, the plainness, the mortar, paper, and wood beams all let you know you're finally here. They're descriptors, you'll find.