4. The great mistake

Sophia and her little daughter Angela had just finished eating and were praying to God to thank Him for the wonderful meal He had given to them.

But as Sophia was looking at her young daughter, she saw in her beautiful eyes a little sadness, so she asked her:

"What's wrong, my Angela, and you are sad?" 

"I was thinking, mum, of Adam and Eve and the beautiful life they were having in Paradise and then, because of the mistake they made, they forced our good God to send them out of Paradise. They must have made a great mistake, to make our good God so sad! I'm afraid, mum, that I might make the same mistake and hurt God. So please, tell me what they did wrong, so that I don't do it too!"

Sophie took Angela into her arms. She hugged her tightly and tenderly, with much love and affection in her chest, and gave her two sweet kisses. She was happy that her little daughter loved God so much that she was afraid of making a mistake that would make Him sad.

"My child, let me tell you what happened and you will understand by yourself what the great mistake they made was. Adam and Eve were living happily in Paradise. There was absolutely nothing missing in their lives. They were picking beautiful and nutritious fruits from the trees and were playing with all the animals like friends. Man was really the king of Paradise! God, however, wanted to test man to see how loyal and obedient he was to Him. So, one day, He told Adam and Eve: "You can eat all the fruits from all of the trees that are in Paradise. But you must never eat the fruits from that tree, -and He showed them the tree, -because the day you will do it, you will experience great sorrow. You will leave Paradise immediately and you will lose all the joy and happiness you have here now." After giving them this command, He blessed them and let them live freely in Paradise. One day, however, when Eve was walking on her own in Paradise, a snake approached her."

"Wasn't Eve afraid, mum?"

"No, my child. In Paradise there was no fear, because all the animals and humans were friends. Moreover, the snake did not have the form it has today and was, as the Bible says, the smartest animal in Paradise. Its current form was given to it after the great mistake made by man. However, someone was hiding inside the snake that did love neither God nor humans."

"Who was that, mum?"

"It was Satan, my child. But, I will tell you more about him some other time. So, the evil Satan was hidden inside the snake, and at some point when Eve was alone, he approached her and said: "Eve, why don't you eat fruit from this tree that God forbade you to? Do you know that, if you eat its fruit, you will also become gods? Try it and you will see that it is the most delicious of all the fruits in Paradise!"

"Did Eve eat this fruit, mum?"

"Unfortunately, yes. She ate some herself and then gave it Adam to eat."

"Oh, mum! Why did they make this mistake? Why did they not listen to what our good God had told them? Why did they believe the evil Satan's words? I can imagine how sad our good God was!"

"God was very sad, my Angela because, instead of trusting their Creator, they trusted Satan and his words. This is the great sin that our forefathers made, so it is called "original sin". It is this sin that reminds us of what bad things can happen to each one of us when we do not trust God and do not obey His divine commands!"

"Did Adam and Eve apologize to God after that, mum?"

"No, my child! Instead of asking for forgiveness, in order for Him to forgive them, they both preferred making excuses. So, when God asked Adam why he ate the forbidden fruit, he put the blame on Eve, who gave it to him to eat."

"And what did Eve say, mum?"

"She said that the snake had tricked her. Surely, my child, our good God would have forgiven them, if they had confessed their mistake with humility instead of selfishly starting to make excuses. An apology has great power and makes God forgive us and bless us, despite the mistakes we make as humans. Do you understand my child?"

"Yes, mum, I understand. I will always love and trust our good God. If, however, I make a mistake and I make Him sad, I will immediately apologize to Him, as I do to you!"