I imagine God's deep voice as he said:
“...but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” (Gen 2:17)
And then in kind of a smooth, slick voice a bit later, the serpent:
“You will not certainly die, for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
God did not create humanity with the intent that we should know good and evil. In this way, God was protecting our hearts, our innocence. He created us to feel, to be, to experience, to love. And when our eyes are opened -- when we know good and evil, we begin to judge. And as we begin to judge, we lose our ability to feel, be, experience and love. We die. Perhaps not a physical death, but we die to our ability to live fully.
In our dying, we sense we are losing something. And so then we start to grasp. We cling to ideals, we try to control. Fear enters our hearts. Our souls sense how much we have already lost, so we live in terror of losing more: our lives, our accomplishments, our purpose.
And in all of that grasping, controlling, striving, the very thing that God warned of happens. We do surely die. We cannot live in love and fear at the same time.
So we are stuck. We sense the bind but have no idea what to do next. We have no choice but to continue in the hellish cycle of fear and control. And in that cycle, love is lost.
.... What if...? What if there is another way? What if a Whisper were to come and speak life and truth back into us? What if Love itself could reclaim the ground that we willingly, naively gave up?
If that were to happen, I think the ground you stand on would tremble below you. All of creation would hold its breath in wonder, waiting, “This is a child of God,” it might say. “Watch her, wait for her. Love lives in her.”
And as creation watches in amazement, and as the Whisper of Truth speaks to her, she is transformed... in the presence of Perfect Love, fear and darkness flee from her. And as love grows within her, it also expands all around her. Creation changes, becomes more full, more true, more real. More itself. She can speak life. She exudes hope. Where she walks, the Kingdom of Heaven leaves a trail of love and peace.
.....What if....?