Blog Post 6 (June 1-6) Staying Emotionally Connected

One of the readings this week was a poem called Lamentations. While reading it I was drawn to Eve’s perspective on our joys and sorrows in life. In the poem we see the different life moments that Eve went through; being told she would suffer, giving birth to her boys, and then losing them.

The first thing that really hit me was when she says, “And now another one who looks like Adam…” I love that line, because ever since I met my husband I have wanted our children to look and be like him. He is handsome and good inside and out. What a miracle to have a child born who truly belongs to you. To know that he is yours and your husbands.

The next line that really hit me was “Where are the boys?” Before there is an answer Eve has to assume or perhaps assure herself that they are out working. Perhaps a lamb is being born? The weather seems bad for that, but work is work. She seems to try and ignore the look on Adam’s face. I think this is so sad. No mother wants to hear that her child has died, then to have to find out it was by his brother’s hand, and not only has she lost one, but both. I am sure that as a mother she would try and think of other punishments for her son, she wouldn’t want him to leave her too.

And of course, “Why?” We all ask that question when times get hard. I think that saddest part is that Cain chose this path. Many mothers have asked the question, “Why?” We just have to remember that we do what we can, and love them, but they are still free to choose their own paths.

It is a heartbreaking poem, but the key to this is not the sadness, it is the knowledge that Eve chose to go through the sorrow so that she could understand the joy. She, like all of us, chose to come to earth and suffer so that we can grow. We will never become better if we avoid the suffering.

I like the analogy that life is like an education. When we are students it seems like we will be students forever. We will always be struggling through homework, papers, exams, and projects. Then, one day, it’s all over. Did we do our best? Did we really learn, or did we just skim through. When the final exam is over, are we better for it? Life is like the education we receive; did we graduate or just go to school until we could bail?

Poem Source:

Hafen, B. (2005). The Doctrinal Pattern of Adam and Eve: No Misery, No Joy. In Covenant hearts: Marriage and the Joy of Human Love (pp. 65-74). Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book. Poem: Lamentations, by Arta Romney Ballif.