Dear Father, We are not told how much time went by between the serpent’s conversation with Eve about the forbidden fruit and her eventual eating of it. The Scripture moves from the serpent saying, “Ye shall not surely die,” to saying, “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat...” It is almost as though she ate the fruit immediately after her conversation with the serpent, but perhaps this is not how the story unfolds. What if there was a process of meditation after that conversation? Or perhaps one where, each time she walked around the garden and saw the fruit, she remembered the conversation. Perhaps, daily, her conviction concerning Your instruction weakened, while her desire for the fruit was strengthened. Because it was not a fair argument where words combat words, but a statement requiring performance while initiating contact with a seed in her. The serpent is cunning, not often intending that sin should befall us instantly, but strategically planting seeds and patiently watching them grow. Unlike the popular belief where rising seems planned while falling seems instantaneous; falling, too, is often premeditated. In instances where doubt has lingered a little too long in our hearts, and we entertain questions without appropriate responses, which eventually lead to weakened convictions. Because daily, all we see is the fruit, with just about the right seed of desire in us for compromise. And in situations where words are meant to combat words, I hope not to be found without. Translations: Slide 1: English Slide 2: French Slide 3: Bengali Slide 4: Hindi Slide 5: Urdu Slide 6: Portuguese #LettertoGod #temptation #sin #seeds #risingandfalling