Philosopher, neuroscientist and psychiatrist Iain McGilchrist says we require three things to attain a meaningful life. The first is feeling part of a wider community – family, friends, and society in general. Second is an understanding of nature and a connection to the natural order of things, which McGilchrist feels we have largely lost. Finally, we need to form a relationship with the sacred or divine – this can be found in art, music, poetry and religion, where we acknowledge the ineffable and all-encompassing force that holds the world together.
The farther removed from Eden in time, and the more advanced we become in technology than our ancient parents, the clearer it becomes that all we need was provided in the beginning. We aren’t so much learning new things, as much as rediscovering the value of the original things; things we abandoned in Eden in our naive pursuits of something greater; things lost to our attempts to “be like God”, when, in a cruel twist, we were already created in the image of God; things we discarded by listening to lies rather than trusting our Father.
Feeling part of a wider community - family, friends, society in general.
“The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’…..Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, ‘This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.’ That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:18, 22-24)
An understanding of nature and a connection to the natural order of things.
“Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food….A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters….The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it….Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.” (Genesis 2:8, 10, 15, 19-20).
A relationship with the sacred or the divine.
“Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’ Then God said, ‘I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.’ And it was so.” (Genesis 1:26-30).
What Iain McGilchrist — one of the most brilliant and respected scientists to study the human mind — discovered isn’t really so much a discovery, as much as a rediscovering of what our Creator provided us with from the beginning. All three of the elements necessary for a meaningful life were right there in Eden all along. Generations after the exile from the Garden, when Israel was fully settled in the land and thriving as a kingdom, the euphemism used to described their blessed condition was a reference to their time in Eden. “The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore; they ate, they drank and they were happy…During Solomon’s lifetime Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, lived in peace and safety…each family had its own home and garden” (1 Kings 4:20, 25).
Beyond Eden, and beyond the land of milk and honey, the treatment prescribed for the horror that was the Babylonian exile, wasn’t violent revolution, nor passive submission, but a reorienting of values. Israel found itself in ruins and exile, in part, because they forgot the things that made for a meaningful life. They valued money over people and self over others. Their selfishness and greed alienated relationships, which in time, destroyed communities. They traded their connection to the divine for cheap imitation trinkets in the form of idols; generic imitations of the true and living God. And yet, God spoke to them in the ruins and called them to create new gardens, restored communal relationships and seek His face.
“This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon…This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: ‘Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.’” (Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7).
Did you see a familiar pattern?
Feeling part of a wider community: marry, have children, and grandchildren, seek the peace and prosperity of the city.
An understanding of nature and a connection to the natural order of things: plant gardens and eat what they produce.
A relationship with the divine: listen to what God is telling you.
If you’re feeling a bit out of pocket and can’t quite figure out why, start by seeking to incorporate these three things into your life before anything else. As John Prine sang in Spanish Pipedream:
"Blow up your TV
Throw away your paper
Go to the country
Build you a home
Plant a little garden
Eat a lot of peaches
Try an' find Jesus on your own"
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