There’s a family, as you might expect, with a mean, disapproving Dad.
And Eve loves kids, wanted more kids.
Were the two of you very close before this all happened?
ADAM: I would have to say closer than most couples.
CAIN: We had each other. We’d play and talk and stuff. I don’t even remember fighting at all. We make sure that one never has a larger portion than the other.
When you promise to stay together in sickness and in health, you do wonder, what if something happens, an accident, something disabling?
Is it ever hard to feel like you’re a separate person?
CAIN: I was always jealous of Abel because he was very naturally talented. He was very creative and read a lot and was very intellectually engaged from an early age. He really stood out on the farm because he was the only one like that.
EVE: If anything, he tiptoed around, worried that he’d mess things up as everybody set the table or cleaned the kitchen.
CAIN: We stumble on these land mines that really explode into conflict between us. It divides people.
What does God have to offer them?
ABEL: All of a sudden, something inside me just started welling up. And it was kind of like a joyful feeling, but really joyful. Something was – I don’t know – a kind of warm feeling.
CAIN: But you see that I’m struggling to accept that your way is a valid way that’s just different from my way. And I want you to feel like you also feel that my way is a valid way. It’s just different from your way. I know you don’t think that.
He just is not aware of other people’s feelings in any normal sort of way.
ADAM: You have to stop waiting around for Him to love you.
CAIN: Well doesn’t He love us? Doesn’t He love us enough to act differently?
ADAM: Our Dad will always be harsh, will never treat him like he cares.He can’t change Him and shouldn’t try.
CAIN: So then he was gone.
Yeah, well, he was about as big as me, too. But I whooped him.
I mean, very simply, I missed my brother. I realized I had a brother once, and I no longer do.
EVE: The three of us couldn’t make it a family unit again. We would never be the same as before.
CAIN: Well, what would heaven be like?
Because I have no concept of that.
I have tried to imagine that because when Abel died, I definitely tried to think about
Where is he?
And that’s probably the last time I thought about there maybe being a God.
Sources:
Audio: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/166/nobodys-family-is-going-to-change
Transcript: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/166/transcript
Peter Sturtevant is interested in old stories, particularly the ones that continue to be retold and evolve. A poet, songwriter, and short story writer in his free time, he is currently pursuing a Master’s of Liberal Arts at the University of Pennsylvania with a focus on religious literature and creative writing.