2 - You know something, I really like this place.

1 - You do, do you?

2 - Yep! Furthermore, I like all these people.

1 - I can agree with that.

2 - I’ve got one word to describe it all.

1 - One word?

2 - One word!

1 - Pray tell, what is that word?

2 - Delightful.

1 - Delightful ?

2 - De-light-ful.

1 - I suppose I can buy that. This is a delightful place, and these are delightful people.

2 - For the most part.

1 - Which part, the people or the place?

2 - Well, I don’t know everybody here. So how can I say that they are all delightful?

1 - You’ve got a point there. Maybe you could say that as far as you know they’re all
            delightful.

2 - Okay, as far as I know they’re all delightful.

1 - Delightful ?

2 - Delightful.

1 - You know, that reminds me of another place.

2 - Another delightful place?

1 - Yes. It reminds me of a story of a delightful garden.

2 - Cool ! I like gardens.

1 - You’ll like this one. In fact, the name of this garden actually means "delight."

2 - It does? Boy, is that a coincidence or what!

1 - It’s no coincidence. You brought up the word "delightful," which reminded me
            of this garden.

2 - Oh, yeah, I did, didn’t I. Okay, what’s the name which means "delight"?

1 - Eden.

2 - Eden?

1 - Yes, Eden. There’s a story about the Garden of Eden.

2 - I’ve heard of that story. It’s in the Bible, isn’t it?

1 - In the beginning.

2 - I suppose we’re here to tell these people the story, aren’t we?

1 - Well, at least part of it.

2 - Which part?

1 - The delightful part.

2 - There’s an un-delightful part?

1 - You bet.

2 - You mean it doesn’t have a happy ending?

1 - Well, you have to read a whole lot further in the book to get there.

2 - But it does have a happy ending?

1 - You could say that.

2 - Whew! You had me worried there.

1 - Why?

2 - Well, the Bible is the story of God and God’s people, right?

1 - Right.

2 - And we’re part of God’s people, right?

1 - Right.

2 - Don’t you want your story to have a happy ending?

1 - I suppose I do... Maybe we should tell the story now.

2 - Good idea. But don’t we need some help?

1 - I’m glad you brought that up. We have three characters. Two of those are the first man
            and the first woman.

2 - Wait a minute! If I remember correctly, in this story the first man and the first woman
            were naked. Are we going to do that with our characters?

1 - No, what do you think this is?

2 - Whew! It would have been difficult to find two persons to play those parts if they had
            to be naked, especially in front of all these people, as delightful as these people
            might be.

1 - We wouldn’t ask that of anyone!

2 - That’s good! Because if we couldn’t find two people to play those parts, you and I
            would have to step into those roles. (1 & 2 look at each other in horror at the thought)

2 - Moving right along.

1 - As I said, there are three characters. The third is God.

2 - Of course, we won’t be seeing God, will we?

1 - No, we just have a voice.

2 - The One who says, "It is good!"

1 - Actually, those words are from a slightly different part of the story. Ours comes from
            the second chapter of Genesis, not the first.

2 - You mean, we’re not telling about the seven days of creation?

1 - Well, not really. Ours is sort of like a story within a story.

2 - Oh! You mean God won’t say "It is good"?

1 - No.

2 - I like that part.

1 - Well, it’s not in the story of the Garden of Eden.

G - Listen! If I want to say something is good, I’ll say something is good.

1 - Yes, Lord.

2 - I guess you got told.

G - Can we speed it up here?

1 - Moving right along.

2 - Moving right along.

1 - Shall we begin?

2 - Let’s.

1 - "When the Lord God made the heavens and the earth, no grass or plants were growing
            anywhere."

2 - You see, "God had not yet sent any rain, and there was no one to work up the land."

1 - "But springs came up from the ground and watered the earth."
                (During the above verses, "A" comes and sits in a "pile" in center stage, as if lifeless.)

2 - "The Lord God took a handful of soil and made a man."

1 - "The Lord made a garden in a place called Eden..."

2 - That means "delight."

1 - Yes, and God "put the man there."

2 - "The Lord God placed all kinds of beautiful trees and fruit trees in the garden."

1 - "Two other trees were in the middle of the garden. One of the trees gave life."

2 - Hey, that’s pretty cool - a tree that gives life, a "tree of life."

1 - Yes, a ‘tree of life.’ "The other tree gave the power to know the difference between
            right and wrong."

2 - Boy, there are a lot of people nowadays who I wish would eat the fruit of that tree.
            They don’t seem to know right from wrong.

1 - That may not really be the problem.

2 - What do you mean?

1 - Knowing what’s right and doing what’s right are two different things.

2 - Oh, that’s good, that’s very good. I’ll have to remember that.

G - I wish you would.

A - Are we going anywhere with this story?

2 - Maybe we should jump over the part about all those rivers that flowed out from Eden.
            Frankly, I don’t know how to pronounce their names. For example, is the first one
            "piss-shun" or "pie-shawn" or "piss-shown" or "pie-shoon"?

1 - That’s not a bad idea. Besides, we know where the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers are,
            but we haven’t a clue about the others. (note to reader: that’s "Tie-gris" and "You-fray-teas")

2 - Is that how they’re pronounced? I thought it was "tea-grease" and "up-rates."

1- Moving right along.

2 - Moving right along.

1 - "The Lord God put the man in the garden of Eden to take care of it and to look
            after it."

2 - "But the Lord told him,"

G - "You may eat fruit from any tree in the garden, except the one that has the power to
            let you know the difference between right and wrong. If you eat any fruit from
            that tree, you will die before the day is over!"

2 - I suppose the other part of this story, the part we’re not telling right now, has to do
            with eating the fruit from that tree.

1 - You got it.

1 - "The Lord God said,"

G - "It isn’t good for the man to live alone. I need to make a suitable partner for him."

2 - Well, the poor guy was getting a bit lonely. Had God created deodorant yet?

1 - That was Procter and Gamble.

2 - Are they in this story?

1 - No, now let’s get on with it!

2 - "So, the Lord took some soil and made animals and birds, and brought them to the
            man to see what names he would give each of them."

1 - "Then the man named the tame animals and the birds and the wild animals. That’s
            how they got their names."

2 - Gee! I didn’t know that.

1 - Now you do.

1 - And so it went.

2 - I guess the man was no longer lonely, huh?

1 - Well, not exactly.

2 - All these animals and he couldn’t find a friend?

1 - Nope! "None of these was the right kind of partner for the man."

2 - "So the Lord God made him to fall into a deep sleep." ("A" lies down)

1 - "And he took out one of the man’s ribs."

2 - Hey, that’s not too cool if you ask me.

G - No one asked you.

2 - You’re right, Lord.

1 - "Then after closing the man’s side, the Lord made a woman out of the rib."

2 - ...woman made from one of man’s ribs. (snickers) Oh, that’s good, that’s very good!

1 - At least it wasn’t his brain.

A - (still lying down) Do you mind, can’t someone get a little shut-eye around here?

2 - No, because it’s time to get up, silly.

A - Oh! (gets up)

1 - "The Lord God brought the woman to the man."
                ("E" comes up to "A", they look each other over - as you do, recall the word "innocense")

2 - "The man exclaimed,"

A - "Here is someone like me! She is part of my body, my own flesh and bones.
            I do believe she is ‘woman’."

1 - "That’s why a man will leave his own father and mother. He marries a woman,
            and the two become like one person." ("A" & "E" exit, 1 & 2 watching)

1 - That’s what the story says.

2 - Hey, the woman didn’t get to say anything.

1 - Don’t worry. She’ll have plenty of opportunities in the days ahead.

2 - I suppose you’re right.

1 - Always am!

G - No, I am.

1 - Of course. Thanks, Lord, for creating everything, and for caring about loneliness.

G - You’re welcome. I care about a lot of things. And I have much more in store.

2 - More stories?

G - The best story you’ve ever heard.

1 - You know where to find us.

G - Indeed I do. By the way, there’s one more thing I’d like to say.

2 - What’s that, Lord?

G - In spite of it all, I still think that everything I made was very good.