In one sense, all sins are a repeat of the first. Adam and Eve grasped after something they didn’t have instead of receiving gratefully what God gave them. In our sinfulness we grasp after some pleasure, some power, some possession, some payback. Instead of gratitude we tend toward greed. Jesus came to reverse the human potential. Though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself. In this election season those vying for office appeal to our grasping tendency and try to outdo themselves in telling us what we will get if we elect them. What would happen to our country if we thought instead of how we might empty ourselves in caring for the common good, if every child could fulfill their potential, if the hungry and homeless were provided for, if the sick were cared for, if the stranger was welcomed?
