God: ‘Did you eat from the tree?’
Adam: ‘The woman whom thou gavest me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.’
God: ‘What is this thou hast done?’
Eve: ‘The serpent beguiled me and I did eat.’
[Genesis 3:11 – 13 BC 4000]
Recently, I gave four students discipline sentences for throwing bites of food up into the air to catch in their mouths during our lunch meal. I wouldn’t have minded if they had actually caught the bits – but they rarely did, and that left quite a few on the floor. The Cook stormed over and told the kids, in no uncertain terms, that they were going to have to sweep up the mess!
Later that day, I talked with them about their actions and the reason for the sentences. At the top of the page, I had them express the reason they were given sentences, forcing them to think about it and confess to what they did. Renee’s read, “because Amy and Troy did it and I wanted to do it,” and it made me think . . . not much has changed in 6,000 years!
Becky Knopf (4th and 5th grade teacher)
Immanuel Mission 