“In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”

-Genesis 2:9

When we think of Eden, we often imagine a distant paradise, untouched and lost. But what if Eden isn’t just behind us—but within us? What if the true mystery lies not at the beginning of the story or at its end… but in the middle?

In Genesis, two sacred trees stand at the center of the garden:

• The Tree of Life
• The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil

God, the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End—places the essence of all choice, all awareness, all transformation not at the start, not in the future… but right in the center.

What is this “middle” and why does it matter?

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1. The Middle Is a Bridge Between Realms

Eden wasn’t just a physical space—it was a sacred intersection. Heaven and Earth kissed in its soil. The middle of the garden wasn’t just the location of two trees—it was the axis of choice, the crossing point between:

• Spirit and Flesh
• Divine Unity and Human Duality
• Eternal Flow and Egoic Separation

The Tree of Life symbolizes harmony with God—pure, flowing life.

The Tree of Knowledge? It symbolizes the split—the knowing that divides rather than unites. The birth of judgment. The illusion of separation.

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2. The Middle Reflects Our Inner Layers

We are made of body, soul, and spirit.

• The body lives in instinct and desire.
• The spirit longs for God.
• And the soul— the seat of will, emotion, and thought— is the middle ground.

Your soul stands in Eden every day, choosing which tree to draw from.

Will you live by divine flow, or dissect right and wrong apart from grace?

Will you walk with God, or define life through your own understanding?

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3. The Middle Is the Mirror of Consciousness

In the moment Eve stood before the tree, something subtle happened.

She replied to the serpent,

“We may eat…” (unity)

“…but you must not touch…” (separation)

From we to you—a fracture, a shift from shared divine consciousness to isolated reasoning.

In that moment, the soul began to perceive without the full presence of wisdom.

The middle became the mind—now aware, but confused. Naked, but ashamed. Seeing, but no longer whole.

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4. The Middle Is the Heart of Creation

Even in our biology, the heart lives in the center.

It pumps life. It responds with emotion. It holds memory and meaning.

In Scripture, the heart is the place where God speaks:

“Create in me a clean heart, O God…”

-Psalm 51:10

What is the trees in the middle weren’t just in Eden—but are planted in your heart?

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5. The Middle Is the Present Moment

God is the Alpha and the Omega.

But we live in the now— the middle between what was and what is to come.

It is in the sacred middle that we choose:

• Will we awaken or remain asleep?
• Will we reach for ego, or for life?
• Will we live divided… or united?

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Final Reflection: Return to the Center

The true fall in Eden wasn’t just the act of eating a forbidden fruit.

It was the moment of disunion—when wisdom was separated from action, when presence gave way to pride.

But the middle remains.

And Eden, far from lost, whispers from within.

Every day, your heart stands between two trees. Every thought, every emotion, every choice is a step toward union or away from it.

To walk with God again is to return to the middle—to the place where wisdom and love meet, where the divine and the human are reconciled, and where the Tree of Life still grows.

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Reflection Prompt:

Where in your life do you feel divided—between spirit and flesh, wisdom and action?

What might it look like to return to the middle with God?