Explanations

Dorothy's twenty-five year-old son seemed to be drifting in his faith. A childhood of church and scripture formed his beliefs, but older now, he was expressing the Devil's thoughts, Dorothy lamented. She'll be calm.

"Just look at Genesis, mom. I've got problems at the very start.", her son was adament. "Brian, we can't have problems with God's word. It's final.", Dorothy protested.

"No, listen mom, Genesis paints such a bad picture, who can believe it? Look. God says to Adam and Eve, do what you like, but don't even touch that fruit over there. Then, Genesis rats out the female. Eve's the weak one who got tempted by the evil Serpant. Adam blames her when questioned by God. She blames the snake. The snake eats dust for eternity. Mom, this story was so obviously written by some guy who didn't want all guys to look stupid!"

Dorothy was dismayed, not sure how to reply. "Son, those "guys" were inspired by the Almighty, we cannot begin to under.." Brian interrupted, "Mom, are you a weak person? No! Eve doesn't represent you or anyone. It's a myth!" That last word hurt. Dorothy's heart sank. She realized Brian's years away at college were influences she couldn't overcome in a conversation. Finally, she said, "We can't know everything."

He didn't reply, knowing he'd already crossed boundaries that caused pain. Silently, Brian resolved to keep asking God for better explanations- there were too many unanswered questions.