Just East of Eden there is Freewill
Spring in Southern California
Spring in Southern California Granville Redmond 1931

Consider our coming into being. We did not choose to whom we were born to, when we were born, in what place we were born. To even be born at all was not a choice we made. If we are to be determined, must we also create and maintain the illusion of freewill so as to avoid the pit of nihilistic belief a life without free choice holds? Steinbeck said there was one book to every man, that book for him being East of Eden. I would extend Eden’s influence to, if not answering, then elucidating further the necessity to believe that despite our inherent nature, we can choose to be something different…

Fight with Cudgels
Fight with Cudgels Francisco Goya 1820
The Garden of Eden with the Fall of Man
The Garden of Eden with the Fall of Man Peter Paul Rubens & Jan Brueghel the Elder 1615