“When the signs of age begin to mark my body

(and still more when they touch my mind);

when the illness that is to diminish me or carry me off

strikes from without or is born within me;

when the painful moment comes to which I suddenly awaken

to the fact that I am growing ill or growing old;

and above all at the last moment

when I feel I am losing hold of myself

and am absolutely passive within the hands

of the great unknown…

†. Gen 3:15a . . I will put enmity between you and the woman,

The enmity was for Eve's own good. If she got all sappy and forgave the Serpent, and kissed and

made up, it just might pull another stunt on her; as ruinous as the first. The Serpent was, after all,

the father of all con men; and more cunning than any beast of the field.

 

†. Gen 3:15b . . And between your offspring and her…

†. Gen 3:12 . .The man said: The woman You put at my side-- she gave me of the

tree and I ate.

It appears that Adam didn't want to go down alone on this. And why specify Eve as the woman

You put at my side? Was there any other woman in the area? No; at the time, Eve was it. Did

Adam actually insinuate that God set him up to take a fall? Like: "This wouldn't have happened

if you hadn't imposed that female upon me.…

.. you have persevered…