Fr. Hopko gives three interpretations of the eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in his book The Winter Pascha (from the chapter “The Tree of Life Blossoms”). One interpretation is from St. Gregory Nazianzen, one is from Fr. Schmemann, and a third covers “most interpretations of the story”. For the second, Fr. Hopko quotes Fr. Schmemann:

Man ate the forbidden fruit. The fruit of that one tree, whatever else it may signify, was unlike every other fruit in the Garden: it was not offered as a gift to man. Not given, not blessed by God, it was food whose eating was condemned to be communion with itself alone, and not with God. It is the image of the world loved for itself, and eating it is the image of life understood as an end in itself.

If Adam and Eve partake of the fruit of this tree, they will surely die. They sever their life-giving link with God.

Fr. Schmemann’s interpretation of the fall is sobering news for those of us giving gifts this Christmas season. I am sitting here this afternoon wrapping and packing up boxes to send to family out of town. I keep thinking that this is a poor way to send the joy of the Nativity of Christ to people I love.

The forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was not a proper gift to man, says Fr. Schmemann. Not being a gift, not being blessed by God, the act of receiving it — of taking it and eating it — brought death for Adam and Eve, because through it they began to love the world for itself alone. Receiving it brought communion not with God, but with worldly fruit desired for its own sake. A whole lifetime spent eating and consuming this fruit is “the image of life understood as an end in itself”, a life without connection or blessing by God, and a life that can end only in death.

When we give gifts to people at Christmas, are they blessed by God? Are they gifts that allow those who receive them to find communion with God? Or are they gifts that entice and move people to commune only with worldly things, things loved in and for themselves? What kind of a life are we fostering in those we love?

I don’t know how to give gifts that are blessed by God. I am quite sure that giving in an anxious spirit is not right. How much did I spend? Too little, too much? Will they like it? Will it arrive in time? I need to hurry to get the packages mailed so I can move on to the next item on my long to do list. For me, so much anxiety surrounds the whole gift-giving “scene”.

Perhaps I should be asking: Am I praying for this person? Is what I’m giving going to help this person find Christ? (What would such a gift be?) Is there a spirit of love behind my giving? What gift would love give? If I cannot find it in my heart to give with love, would it be better not to give at all?

Would that all gifts given this Nativity were blessed by God and given in love.