IT ALL STARTED IN EDEN...

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1 Bible Drama Scripts presents IT ALL STARTED IN EDEN... A Revealing Look At How We Relate To Each Other Featuring 5 Dramatic Sketches by Adam, Eve, and Lucifer By Patricia Souder SYNOPSIS: It All Started in Eden offers a narrated collage of five tightly-scripted drama sketches that portray the intended intimacy for which we were created as well as heartrending reminders of why we struggle with relationships. Designed for One Another invites us to share the wonder Adam and Eve enjoyed when first created. Just One Bite reveals the alluring appeal of temptation. Not Me, Lord and I Don t Have Anything to Wear use humor to underscore our human tendency to engage in the blame game and instant cover-ups. Bring Back the Music captures our deep longing for what could have been even as it points to our ultimate redemption. SETTING: The Garden of Eden. PROPS: Flowers, bushes, and trees. CHARACTERS: ADAM,, and LUCIFER. PERFORMANCE TIME: 20 minutes. PERFORMANCE NOTES: NARRATOR 1: Male. NARRATOR 2: Female. Lines with stars in drama sketches are performed together. TOPICS: Marriage. Relationships. Intimacy. Fulfillment. Creation. God s goodness. Sin. Temptation. Redemption. Longing. PERFORMANCE POSSIBILITIES: Marriage and premarital seminars and conferences. Men s, Women s, or Couples Events. Valentine s Day. High school and college groups. BIBLE REFERENCES: Genesis 1-3; Romans 8:

2 It All Started in Eden 2 NARRATOR 1: In the beginning, God... NARRATOR 2: The infinite, eternal, perfect, triune God who created the heavens and the earth and everything within them... NARRATOR 1: Chose to complete His magnificent work by creating a man made in God s own likeness and brought to life with God s own breath. NARRATOR 2: God graciously placed that man, Adam, in a luxurious paradise. Then God summoned all the livestock, birds, and jungle animals who romped and snorted and played together in joyous harmony to Adam to see what he would call them. NARRATOR 1: As Adam chose names for the sheep and goats, eagles and egrets, tigers and giraffes, he noticed that they all had mates. So Adam began to look for a suitable companion to share his life. NARRATOR 2: The Creator smiled, administered a divine sedative, extracted one of Adam s ribs, and fashioned a perfect partner for him. DESIGNED FOR ONE ANOTHER ADAM (Stretches and yawns as if just waking up.) I feel like someone is looking at me... Watching me... Almost staring at me.... (Looks up and sees Eve.) WOW! Someone IS staring at me! But now that I see who it is, (Watches Adam with an amused smile.) (Smiles warmly.)

3 It All Started in Eden 3 ADAM I don t really mind. In fact, I like it. I mean, I like YOU... I mean... You re... You re GORGEOUS! You re elegant... exquisite... Enchanting... Breath-taking... mind-boggling... BEAUTIFUL! Why, I can t take my eyes off you! Who are you anyway? You weren t here yesterday When I was naming the animals. You talk! You have arms and legs... Fingers and toes like I do... You stand tall and look right into my eyes... And you SPEAK! Oh, how wonderful! You re so much like me... Only better! (Smile continues to broaden.) (Drops her gaze as if slightly embarrassed.) (Looks at Adam and smiles.) No, I wasn t. Yes, I do. Yes, I do! (Script continues )

4 It All Started in Eden 4 So that s how it was meant to be! NARRATOR 1: We were designed to be partners... NARRATOR 2: Sweethearts... And soul-mates... NARRATOR 1: Who delight in sharing our lives in devoted intimacy NARRATOR 2: And loving unity. What a wonderful, happily-ever-after life... (Pause.) It was... (Pause.) And should have been. JUST ONE BITE LUCIFER (Uses a seductively persuasive soft sell. Savors each word.) Just one bite. One sensuously scintillating, enticingly exhilarating, marvelously liberating... bite. (Doubtfully.) Just one bite? Just one bite. But God said... God? (Sarcastically.) The God who crafted creativity,

5 It All Started in Eden 5 and delights in grand diversity would discourage curiosity? We may eat of every other fruit. An arbitrary absolute! Grow up! Eat from all the trees in Eden. No good God would give you Paradise and then restrict your freedom! But God said that we would die. Die? You won't die. That's an authoritative, calculated lie. (Script continues ) NARRATOR 1: Just one bite... NARRATOR 2: One tasty, tantalizing, tiny little bite... It was such a small thing! NARRATOR 1: Except that it defied the God who created them... NARRATOR 2: And disrupted the harmony, companionship, and joy of Eden NARRATOR 1: For them... NARRATOR 2: For us... Forever.

6 It All Started in Eden 6 NOT ME, LORD ADAM It wasn t me, Lord... It was Eve. You know: the intriguing, irresistible woman You made from my rib, Lord. That s who gave me the fruit. It wasn t me, Lord... It was Lucifer. You know: the intriguing, irresistible angel of light You made to show Your beauty. That s who gave me the fruit. You can t blame me, Lord! You can t blame me, Lord! You say You told us not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? But that s just the point: Without the knowledge of good and evil, how were we to know? You can t blame us, Lord! You can t blame us, Lord! (Script continues )

7 It All Started in Eden 7 NARRATOR 2: Ah, the Blame Game! NARRATOR 1: We ve all played it... NARRATOR 2: And we ve all lost. Guilt so squeezes our reasoning and freezes our hearts that we rush to bend the truth to defend ourselves. NARRATOR 1: In the process, we blame circumstances. NARRATOR 2: We blame each other. And, sometimes we blame God. NARRATOR 1: Blaming never solves the problem... NARRATOR 2: But it makes us crazy enough to plan a cover-up or withdraw from life. I DON T HAVE ANYTHING TO WEAR (Holds fruit with two big bites missing.) Now, wasn t that fruit delicious? (Irritated.) All right, don t answer. Adam, I hate to say this, but you look different somehow... I mean, you look older and sort of sad and kind of empty. In fact, I never noticed it before, but you look downright naked! Don t you think you should put something on? And me... ADAM (Sits on big stone with head in hands.) (Silence. Shakes head slightly.) (Silence. Glances at Eve and rolls eyes.) (Silence. Drops head and shakes it in exasperation.)

8 It All Started in Eden 8 (Distressed.) Look at me... (Looks down at self; (Glances at Eve passively.) Crosses arms over chest as if embarrassed.) No, actually, don t look at me. Why, Adam, I don t think I ve ever mentioned this before, But I don t have a thing to wear! (Script continues ) NARRATOR 1: Go shopping. Find a needle. What was Eve thinking? NARRATOR 2: At least she was thinking. And trying to find a solution. Adam just sat there glumming over the situation. What good did that do? NARRATOR 1: Adam knew that God was holy and that sin ruined their relationship. NARRATOR 2: So did Eve. That s why she tried to fix the problem. NARRATOR 1: That sounds noble, but more than one relationship was broken. And nothing Adam or Eve could do would make them righteous before God again. NARRATOR 2: So the fig leaves didn t really solve the problem? NARRATOR 1: No. Adam and Eve really didn t have anything to wear, physically or spiritually. And neither do we. NARRATOR 1: All of us have done what we know is wrong. NARRATOR 2: All of us have tried to blame someone else and cover up our sins... NARRATOR 1: Or to ignore the situation and hope it goes away. NARRATOR 2: When it doesn t, we arch our backs and insist we re right.

9 It All Started in Eden 9 NARRATOR 1: We shout and snarl and stomp to make the other person hurt just as much as we do... NARRATOR 2: Even though the rift in the relationship is making us miserable... NARRATOR 1: And our stubbornness threatens to snuff out the most intimate, fulfilling human relationship we ve ever known... And worse than that, to separate us from the magnificent, loving holy God who made us and the marvelous universe He gave us. BRING BACK THE MUSIC ADAM It s the silence, Lord It s the silence, Lord Where there used to be music And rhythm And song. (Pause) (Pause) Silence Silence Where we used to hear angels And planets And stars Sing a symphony of joy. Sing a symphony of joy. (Pause) (Pause) Silence Silence Where lions And llamas Camels And cockatoos Used to talk with us Laugh with us

10 It All Started in Eden 10 Celebrate with us. Celebrate with us. (Pause) (Pause) Silence Silence Where roses And rye grass Waterfalls And fir trees Used to play with us Clap for us Dance with us. Dance with us. (Pause) (Pause) Silence Silence Where we used to talk to one another Where we used to talk to one another Openly Freely Tenderly. Without the cadence The harmony The music... How can we go on? How can we go on? (Pause) (Pause) Dear Lord, Dear Lord, In a voiceless vacuum, In a voiceless vacuum, Please... Please... Bring back the music. Bring back the music. NARRATOR 1: It all started in Eden... NARRATOR 2: Beauty, wonder, romance, harmony, love... NARRATOR 1: Disobedience, guilt, regret, the blame game, cover-ups, despair...

11 It All Started in Eden 11 NARRATOR 2: And longing. Endless longing. For what could have been... a perfect paradise where we re loved and understood... NARRATOR 1: And life runs smoothly. (Pause.) NARRATOR 2: I often wish Eve had never eaten the forbidden fruit... NARRATOR 1: Or that Adam had refused to eat the fruit Eve offered him. NARRATOR 2: What would have happened then? NARRATOR 1: No one knows. (Pause.) But I suspect Adam feared he would lose Eve. NARRATOR 2: So he chose Eve over God? NARRATOR 1: Perhaps. NARRATOR 2: Because he feared loneliness? NARRATOR 1: Perhaps. NARRATOR 2: And then discovered there s a loneliness that transcends human relationships and leaves a gaping hole that only God can fill? NARRATOR 1: (Nods.) Precisely. NARRATOR 2: Worse yet, we repeat the same cycle even though we know the dreadful consequences. Dear Lord, In a voiceless vacuum, Please... Bring back the music. Patricia Souder, 2013

Leader Prep & Bible Study

Leader Prep & Bible Study Session Title: Sin Entered the World Bible Passage: Genesis 3:1-24 Main Point: Adam and Eve s sin separated them from God. Key Passage: 1 Corinthians 8:6 - There is but one God,