{"id":1015,"date":"2021-11-04T01:13:49","date_gmt":"2021-11-04T05:13:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/?p=1015"},"modified":"2021-11-04T01:13:49","modified_gmt":"2021-11-04T05:13:49","slug":"cain-and-abel-uncovering-the-unconscious","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/2021\/11\/04\/cain-and-abel-uncovering-the-unconscious\/","title":{"rendered":"Cain and Abel – Uncovering the Unconscious"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Bible is full of stories that on the surface may seem theatrical and entertaining, yet in entertaining these stories further, a new interpretation is uncovered. I feel as if this is particularly true in the book of Genesis. Some of the most famous and crucial stories that form the foundation of the Bible are found in Genesis- they are also extremely short. For example, the story of Cain and Abel is only sixteen lines, however, its implicit meaning gives it life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The life of the story of <\/span>Cain and Abel<\/span><\/i> is a representation of several binaries. The very nature of the title is binary by the use of two brothers. Although many binaries can be examined, I will look at the idea of doing what is right vs. doing what is wrong in the sense of moral action.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cain and Abel are brothers. They are the first brothers in the history of mankind. Cain \u201ccultivates the earth\u201d and Abel was a \u201cshepherd.\u201d The story follows as such:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it was time for harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. Abel also brought a gift– the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cain\u2019s anger seems justifiable. Why would the Lord accept his brother, Abel\u2019s gift, but not his own? I can only imagine the self-doubt, angst, and lack of confidence the Lord\u2019s unapproved must have bestowed upon Cain. He watched as his brother, with seemingly the same type of offering, was accepted by the Lord while he was left with nothing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Looking through Cains\u2019 eyes, this cruelty from the Lord seems to me as a representation of the cruelty of nature. Whether or not you believe in a God, or a higher power influencing your life and the lives around you, the moral of the story can be understood.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We all have had days where we feel as if the laws of nature are working against us, despite whether our intentions, work ethic, and spirit are all in accordance and aligned towards achieving our goal, but still some higher power is stopping us from reaching it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I feel as if this is how Cain is receiving the Lord\u2019s denial of his offering. Following a moment like this, we as humans can become dejected like Cain, or we can continue to act with the same positive intentions, work ethic, and spirit. And this is the same message God feeds to Cain:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy are you so angry?\u201d the Lord asked Cain. \u201cWhy do you look so dejected? You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Lord offers Cain the wisdom that he must be the master over his depression and anger, or it will consume him. The Lord implies that Cain \u201cwill be accepted\u201d if he just does what is right. The Lord never states that Cain\u2019s offering was wrong or not enough, thus perhaps it was a challenge to test Cain\u2019s faith and character.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This story, from likely thousands of years ago, still rings true today. Despite its brevity, when uncovered, it provides the wisdom that still persists to this day. Cain’s true colors shine through when he is faced with a bit of strife and overcome with the vice of envy over his brother. We all endure challenges in our daily goals and missions. We all experience unfair outcomes for other people or feel as if our sacrifices for others are not acknowledged, similar to how God did not acknowledge Cain’s sacrifice. Yet the correct response is to stay true to your mission and do what is right, for following the alternative path is to fall victim, or slave, to your vices.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Bible is full of stories that on the surface may seem theatrical and entertaining, yet in entertaining these stories further, a new interpretation is uncovered. I feel as if this is particularly true in the book of Genesis. Some of the most famous and crucial stories that form the foundation of the Bible are … Continue reading Cain and Abel – Uncovering the Unconscious<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4709,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[145909],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2021-blog-posts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4709"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1015\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}