Thicker Than Blood

What is it that can turn brother against brother?

Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel for his part brought of the firstlings of his flock, their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. - Genesis 4:2-6

In the very beginning of our human story, we discovered something that is more powerful than the love of a family member, in this case, a brother.  And that something is the ego.

Within each of us lies this personal motivator, an engine that drives us to great heights and yet has the capacity to entrap us and bring us down.  Through it, we seek approval for our works, seek thanks for our efforts, long to be recognized, appreciated and loved, just for being ourselves.

In A Course in Miracles, the self-study curriculum of spiritual transformation edited by Helen Schucman, we discover that it is the ego that keeps us from achieving the very things we seek.  The ego stands in the way of our ability to perform miracles.

Imagine what these two brothers could have done together.  Each had talents the other didn't have, and because they sought God's approval for their gifts, one was made better than the other.

So, is the outcome God's fault?

I have always felt the outcome would have been different if God accepted both offerings, so, in a very real sense, I have put some of the blame on God.  Now some would say that this story is to show God's preference for a herding lifestyle for his people, over a farming life, but even there, the idea that God is calling the shots can be disturbing.

I guess, though, the message here could be about something else, something we are called to face throughout our lives, the bond we share from birth with those in our own family.

God had created a partner for Adam so that he would not be alone, and here we are in the very first generation, with no one else around, no other friends than each other, and still we choose to kill off our only companion, our very blood.

If we are capable of turning against each other this way, what chance is there for peace in the world?

I see this story as a warning.  We can easily let our egos drive all sense and sensibility our of our minds and hearts, and that would be death.

When we seek to be the favored one, when we take a position that we are better than someone else, even a brother or sister, we may just as well be saying they don't exist.

Once Cain gave in to anger, he gave himself over to evil.  He abandoned his right mind and saw his own brother as the cause of his pain.  He gave power to the ego to send reason out the window.

Since we are all capable of that same slide from grace, we need to stop and see ourselves in his place, just long enough for us to shake ourselves free of our own egos.

If we don't, we will find ourselves battling guilt, remorse and fear.

More to come...