Cain continued and intensified

Today's first reading tells of Cain and his descendants.  Once again I'm stopped.  I'm struck by the way the best and worst of human culture spring up together.  Cain's offspring generate herding and music and metallurgy.  But at the same time, they move even deeper into violence.

Lamech, the great-great-great-grandson of Cain, boasts to his wives of killing a man for wounding him.  He says, "If Cain is avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy-sevenfold." (Gen 4:24). So vengeance is the name of the game now, and the question is, how much is enough?

Later, Jesus will counsel Peter that forgiving seven times isn't enough; we need to forgive seventy-seven times, or even seventy times seven.  Jesus undoes the knot that is drawing more and more tightly around humanity.  He doesn't limit the vengeance, as the Torah will do (no more than what has been done to you, and eye for an eye); he goes right to the root of the problem, the assumption that vengeance will help.

Of course, there's a good reason for Torah rules.  What do you do with people who just don't understand that vengeance won't satisfy?  Sometimes all you can do is hope they will be content with "getting even."  But it's tricky.  My perception of what is enough, what is "even," may not be so trustworthy when I'm hurt.  That's why we need counselors, advisors, judges.  But once we've begun to relate to one another that way, it's hard to hang on to our basic shared status as beloved children of God.  That's why the Christian Scriptures and many later movements are so critical of believers taking one another to court.  By the time we need to go to court, we're already off track.  And yet, we can't pretend that we will always stay on track.  This dilemma has dogged us for millennia, and today I'm reminded that it's built into our humanity.

We humans are capable of great beauty and creativity.  We are also capable of degradation and violence far in excess of anything other animals do.  We can follow Jesus' path, but we also have the freedom -and often the limited vision - to follow Lamech.

Which way are you going today?  God, please help me follow Jesus.

And yes, I want to know: what was the name of Cain's wife?