A Baby Horse

This evening after dinner, I began telling my son about the story of Adam and Eve. I began by explaining about the garden, all the sorts of things that would likely have been there, finishing up with of course, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. I also explained that Adam and Eve were ‘nakey buns’ which of course is Toddler Speak for “naked and without shame.” He was pleased with that and listened eagerly as I told him about how God said that the Tree in the middle was a “no.” They were not allowed to eat any of the fruit of the Tree. Although God had given them many other trees to eat from. But, I told him, they did not obey God. (When I first told him this story a few weeks ago, River immediately responded by saying “need spankings.”) Since they disobeyed God, they should have been punished. They deserved to get a “spanking”. But God had mercy on them– here my son quickly picked up on the Kyrie we say in Church and began saying “have mercy on us”– but I continued, explaining that this means that God killed an animal and gave Adam and Eve clothes. Here my son asked what animal God killed. I suggested maybe it was a cow or a bull or an ox, but my son looked up at me and said, “a baby horse.” And that’s about as far as we made it tonight. We’ll try again soon.