“Then the Lord God cast a deep sleep upon Adam: and when he was fast asleep, he took one of his ribs, and filled up flesh for it. And the Lord God built the rib which he took from Adam into a woman: and brought her to Adam. And Adam said: ‘This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man.’ Wherefore a man shall leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be two in one flesh. And they were both naked: to wit, Adam and his wife: and were not ashamed.”
Adam closed his eyes to the world around him, and his mind was opened to the extraordinary actions of God towards him, during which time the Lord would take that which is closest to his heart and mold it into someone that would be yet closer, taking a type of dwelling inside his heart. God makes someone that is complementary to Adam in every way, one to whom he can give himself totally that he may become more fully himself, “For he that will save his life, shall lose it: and he that shall lose his life for my sake, shall find it” (Matthew 16:25). The gift that you are is something precious, and it is only in being drawn outside of yourself for the sake of love that you will realize the magnificence with which the Lord has adorned you. The Trinity is a community of love, and Adam’s solitude, though he is in a state of perfect happiness, is not the reason for which he exists. He exists for this gift, to be something for someone, and so too are you here for the sake of others, that you may make God loved among them by loving them: “A new commandment I give unto you: That you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (John 13:34). Love is something meant to be shared: “Give, and it shall be given to you” (Luke 6:38), and it is the reason for which you and all you encounter exist. Looking in the face of the one fashioned for him, Adam proclaims his love poetically, recognizing her as kin, spouse, companion, someone as close to him as he is himself. Ah, the extraordinary grace of spousal love! And yet, there is a further mystery here, that we ourselves are, while good, incomplete. The mystery of spousal union, where two of opposing sexes become one, that they may complete each other, also shows your relation to the Church. Because all human persons have their unique gifts and are made for love, it is the duty of the Church to bring people together in a community of love, all facing towards the same goal as one, that the gifts of some may make up for what is lacking in others, with grace and the commandment of love binding this mystical body together: “Keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. One body and one Spirit; as you are called in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians 4:3-4). The communion between husband and wife is the deepest expression of love between persons on earth, but it is also a sign of how love works in the Trinity, with Jesus and the Church as well as the individuals within it, and the love between persons. Because of the deepness of this love, it is not in God’s plan to separate, and similarly is the Heavenly Spouse so closely united to your soul that He, by covenant, will not draw back from you: “This is the chalice, the new testament in my blood, which shall be shed for you” (Luke 22:20), “For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor might, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:38-39). Finally, concerning the nakedness of Adam and Eve, the lack of shame or wound of the heart allows them to be entirely innocent and free with each other, knowing each other as each was known, with total vulnerability and intimacy, holding nothing back. Jesus desires this level of vulnerability with you. He knows you entirely, “Thou hast understood my thoughts afar off: my path and my line thou hast searched out. And thou hast foreseen all my ways: for there is no speech in my tongue” (Psalm 138: 3-4), and desires to give this to you: “Now I know in part; but then I shall know even as I am known” (1 Corinthians 13:12). It is in a place of total vulnerability, where you don’t need an intermediary to be with your Jesus, no recited prayers, but to share with Him your entire heart, that He will give Himself to you as a Spouse: “I to my beloved, and his turning is towards me” (Song 7:10). How the heart hides from love! But the Sweet Hunter always seeks: “Behold he standeth behind our wall, looking through the windows, looking through the lattices” (Song 2:9), not pressuring you to open up, for love “love is patient, is kind” (1 Corinthians 13:4), yet He always stands at the door of your heart: “Behold, I stand at the gate, and knock. If any man shall hear my voice, and open to me the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Apocalypse 3:20). Ah, what a gracious Visitor, what a calm Spouse, who beckons to you: “Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is full of dew,” that is, with heavenly grace, “and my locks of the drops of the nights” (Song 5:2), which are the gifts of the Holy Spirit, all of which He longs to give to you, His treasure, His spouse, the light of His world, the bone of His bones and flesh of His flesh, and the two of you are one in you, for you are the temple of His presence, you are His dwelling place: “A mountain in which God is well pleased to dwell” (Psalm 67:17). Therefore, do not be ashamed, for love washes away all shame; He is a tender Lover, and speaks to you with sweetness and compassion, and simply wants you to be yourself in His presence. Be vulnerable with Him, for He is yours, and you are His.