In Genesis 3, after God has a chat with Eve and Adam about eating the forbidden fruit, the narrator tells us that God made leather clothes and dressed them (Gen. 3:21). I’m struck by how this detail made it into the story – and how familiar it feels. Adam and Eve had already attempted to make clothes to cover their nakedness (3:7), and I imagine their effort was similar to mine as a little girl, when I made my best attempt to pin pieces of clothing together like Abuela, ignorant of how she did it. As my caretaker and provider, Abuela always came along with the right fabric, precision and intentionality. Even in moments when I may have hurt, angered or disappointed her in my youth, she always took care of me – like God did Adam and Eve in the garden.
God is a God who creates so much from so little; who is patient and attentive to the smallest details; who knows our bodies and seeks to care, cloth, provide and empower us; and whose focus is the flourishing of humans.
This message is excerpted from “Stitch by stitch, step by step” by Kat Armas in the July/August 2022 Gather magazine.
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