Getting back to which Garden?

Sri Pada Mountain (Photo by Bourgeois)

In case you’re still wondering exactly what went on at Woodstock, here’s another conundrum to ponder:

When Joni Mitchell urged us all to get back to the Garden,which one was she speaking of? 

According to those who might be better off eating apples (to keep the doctors away, but unfortunately not the theologians) than searching for the Mother Tree, there are Gardens of Eden the world over.  Why - according to the Book of Wikipedia - there is one in practically every four-river port.  Some of the more popular sites are those in Iraq, Sri Lanka, Lebanon, and... Missouri.

Those who “vote” for Iraq point out that the headwaters of the Tigris and Euphrates are in Iraq’s northern region.  Since Genesis 2 (NIV) names the Tigris and Euphrates as being two of the four rivers associated with the Garden of Eden, these voters may be at least half right.

Those who prefer Sri Lanka zero in on the Sri Pada Mountain (aka “Adam’s Peak”).  This tall mountain is renowned for its “sacred footprint,” an almost six-foot rock formation that Buddhists see as the Buddha’s footprint, Hindus as Shiva’s footprint, and Christians and Muslims as Adam’s footprint.  

Those who choose Lebanon refer back to Ezekiel 31.  Ezekiel 31:8 (KJV) seems to be locating the cedars

of Lebanon in the “garden of God.”  “Eden” is also specifically mentioned in Ezekiel 31:9, 16 and 18.

And then there’s Missouri…  To many, it’s the land of Andy Williams.  But to some, it’s the home of God’s

Garden.  These “some” are most likely members of The Church of Latter Day Saints.  Back in the 1830s, Church founder Joseph Smith, Jr. had identified Jackson County (near Independence, Missouri) as Zion, the location of the future New Jerusalem.  Smith, along with Brigham Young, believed that Jackson County is

where the biblical Garden of Eden was located.

Resources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_of_Eden

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%202&version=NIV

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Pada_(Sri_Lanka)

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel+31&version=KJV

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_County,_Missouri

Copyright May 6, 2012 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved