Adam's Creation: Eden At Falls-Speak - A Center for Tolerance, Respect, And Understanding

By Martin Finkelstein

"Adam's Vision and Creation" is an informative and educational story about one man's late-in-life spiritual and transitional journey. The protagonist, Adam Gardner refashions his idyllic Eden into a more complex and meaningful environment: "Eden at Falls-speak" - a center to combat discrimination. His personal story advances from innocence and naiveté, to cultural awareness, action and determination, success and resolution, and finally to satisfaction and accomplishment. With his two adult and aging associates, they each find greater purpose, life-fulfillment, spirituality, and social acceptance as they attempt to improve society and combat discrimination.

Included in the story are important life's lessons in understanding prejudice, successful aging, overcoming social inadequacies, and protecting the environment, stressing the values of tolerance, respect, and understanding which are promoted through education, learning, and social interactions. Written with warmth and insight, this timely novel deals with important current issues of discrimination and violence, particularly against blacks, Jews, women, members of the LBGT community, refugees, Muslims, school bullying, and protecting our environment.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Mar 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781543958768

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© 2019 Martin Finkelstein All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

ISBN 978-1-54395-875-1 eBook 978-1-54395-876-8

Dedicated to

Alex, Zoe, Sheera, Zach, Ben, Josh, Maya, and Shylo

And a special thanks is due Barbara Brett for her encouragement, advice, and editorial assistance.

Contents

Prologue

Part 1 Genesis

Chapter 1 — Beginnings

Chapter 2 — Disturbances

Chapter 3 — Rumblings

Chapter 4 — The Challenge

Chapter 5 — A New Vision

Part 2 Emancipation

Chapter 6 — Fresh Opportunities

Chapter 7 — New Experiences

Chapter 8 — New Concepts

Chapter 9 — The Vision

Chapter 10 — Plannings

Part 3 Revelations

Chapter 11 — Falls-speak

Chapter 12 — Eden at Falls-speak

Chapter 13 — The Disciples

Chapter 14 — A Change in Attitude

Chapter 15 — Black Racism and Success

Chapter 16 — Jews and Anti-Semitism

Chapter 17 — The Children and Bullying

Chapter 18 — The Future and Refugees

Chapter 19 — The Environment

Part 4 Resolutions and Conclusions

Chapter 20 — Finishing Touches

Epilogue

Author’s Notes

MAN PLANS, AND GOD LAUGHS

Old Jewish Proverb

Prologue

It was a very odd trio of men who, on a late Summer morning, sat on a cedar wood bench in a remote wooded area of Maine, surrounded by tall trees and wild flowering shrubs, while watching, waiting, and listening for a waterfall to speak to them. They were waiting for the waterfall to do its magic. None of the three could predict in what form the falls would speak to them. But they knew they were engaging in a noble venture: to combat a social atrocity that has poisoned society since it’s beginnings - discrimination; crimes of hate; and persecution. Nature communicates with people in a variety of different ways.

The three men anticipated experiencing a new awareness that would sweep over them after hearing a new sound, seeing a new vision, or feeling a change in the wind coming from the falls. They were confident that there, by the falls, they would soon be inspired in a Eureka moment with a sharper vision, providing them a clearer direction. The three could not have looked any different from each other. They differed in their skin color, age, physique, dress, and bearing, but their outward appearance not withstanding, they were very much alike in their purpose and mindset. They shared a belief that the waterfall would inspire them with new insights; that they had a common revulsion about bigotry and discrimination; and that together, they could make a meaningful contribution to fight discrimination in their world.

On this warm, summer day, Adam Gardner, a fit man looking much younger than his nearly seventy years of age, had lived his entire life here at his tranquil Maine homestead. Now glancing at the two men sitting on either side of him, he mused at how strange and unpredictable life can be. How quickly things can change. Just a few years ago, he did not even know these men. Now he sat next to a tall, robust muscular man, William Robinson (Bill), a dark-skinned African-American Jewish man, who was young enough to be his son, and who was now his best friend and soul brother. Indeed, Bill’s family and Adam’s family had become one extended family. Bill was Adam’s business associate and the two families shared his home, living together the past year and a half. The third man sitting with them was a much older, distinguished grey-haired, moderately portly, neatly bearded gentleman with glasses, a hat, a cane, dressed in expensive sports clothes, appearing perfectly at ease and in control, but looking totally out of place in this remote wooded area. This was Professor Wolfgang Bernard Liebermann, PhD., whom Adam and Bill had just met that very week. Now, here the three men sat together, friends and collaborators, sometimes closing their eyes and listening, sometimes staring and waiting, believing the falls would soon speak to them and give them inspiration and guidance in their cooperative venture. Already Adam had learned so much new shocking information about human nature and behavior from his two companions, that his prior concept of the world had been radically altered, and his solitary life style turned upside down. He had been introduced to a sinister and mean aspect of humanity that he never previously knew, nor even realized existed. It had been a transformative revelation, and an awakening that permanently changed his life. He now felt rejuvenated, with a new excitement and new purpose that he recognized had been missing in his life for many years. He had no doubts that he had made the right decisions in his life, and the new energy these decisions generated thrilled him.

The men could clearly see the waterfall, but the woods partially muffled its thunder, so that the three could speak when they were ready, without shouting. They were formulating a plan to combat and mitigate a common malignant behavior, a pestering sore in the world, one that had been a cause of wars, atrocities, and social unrest for millennia – prejudice and bigotry. They were trying to tackle this age-old scourge in a new creative format - one that they hoped would be more successful than any of the past approaches, which seemed to have had only limited success.

They were sitting together at the edge of Eden at Falls-speak, the one hundred acre rustic Gardner homestead where Adam and his wife, Evelyn (Evie) had raised their three sons, and had always believed was a perfect paradise, only a few years before. How naïve he had been, Adam now thought. How his, and his family’s thinking and lifestyle had changed so drastically in such a short time. Adam still had difficulty believing all the events that were happening in his life, and which now motivated and invigorated him, filling him with exciting thoughts of the future. As the men sat there silently, in deep thought, Adam’s mind replayed his personal journey and how he arrived at this moment: the past several years being most life-altering.

****

Decades earlier, when Adam was a young boy living at his family home in Maine, he had learned from his father to appreciate the music of nature, and listen for the various notes and feelings that the music played in his heart and reverberated in his soul. WAKE UP! GET UP! LET’S GO! THE WORLD IS WAITING FOR US, his father would often shout at him in the morning while he was just rousing from sleep. His father explained, The universe is filled with music, magic, and mystery. Nature, the great conductor, plays an elaborate symphony each year, delicately controlling the timing and appearance of colors and sounds, the display of new crescendo themes and melodies, and the fading and silence of others. Each section of the orchestra waits its turn patiently, till nature cues them when it’s time for them to perform, or their time to stop performing. We, like everything we see around us, are part of nature and this orchestra we call the universe.

His father had always tried to inculcate a sense of wonder in him, along with encouraging him to search for the magic in the world. His father had repeatedly told him the world was filled with wonder. His mission was to discover it all, and to respect it all. The satisfaction he could derive from understanding some natural phenomenon was thrilling. There was so much to learn, so much to understand, so much to appreciate everywhere he looked. Adam recalled being homeschooled by his father, and almost every waking moment he spent with his father was a moment of discovery that increased his appreciation of the world.

Whenever possible, Adam would explore and contemplate the world. He would pause in whatever he was doing to marvel at the industry and magic of a spider slowly weaving its intricate web. He would notice and be fascinated watching a hawk floating silently in large circles overhead, or seeing the aerial formations of flocks of honking geese flying to some specific destination, wondering how they knew their way without maps. Watching the changing shape and appearance of clouds thrilled him, as if an unseen artist was drawing a painting in the sky. At the birdfeeder, he would note the hierarchy of feeding: the woodpeckers demanded priority over the usually more aggressive and demanding blue jays and crows, while smaller birds would have to wait patiently for their turn to feed. Squirrels would scamper below the birdfeeder waiting for seeds and small nuts to fall as the result of the sloppy eating habits of birds. Adam would observe the disciplined marching of ants moving single-file along the ground, and would study how their route would change when he placed an obstacle in their path. He could sit and watch colorful butterflies and hummingbirds hovering over summer flowers for hours. It all fit together in peace and harmony. There seemed to be no violent conflicts that he observed in this well-ordered world. His father was right, nature was filled with wonder, if he paused and observed it.

With time, Adam had learned to close his mind to all interfering thoughts, and allow nature to engulf him with its sights, sounds, smells, and the feel of the wind. If successful, he sensed he was melding with the music of the world, and felt fully integrated into the universe. The sublime peace that would then overtake him was powerful - almost narcotic. He was alone in the world, listening to the sounds and music of the Earth that seemed to be playing just for him. The best place for him to feel this transformation was at the waterfall, near the edge of his family’s property. Seeing and hearing the waterfall had an extraordinary effect on him. This was the favorite place his father came for reflection, and the place he often brought Adam for a one-on-one talk. It was here by the falls Adam felt he was sitting among the musical instruments of a great orchestra, as they played. Here, by the waterfall, he thought he heard, or felt viscerally, that nature was speaking directly to him.

Adam was an only child, but did not feel cheated by not having any siblings. He was almost always happy, and enjoyed being alone with his parents and nature, not really minding not having any friends or other children around him with whom to play. He was not religious. His parents had never tried to give him a religious upbringing. What he learned about religion, or about most things, he got from books. Adam was an avid reader. He would read books about history, religion, nature, science, and the biographies of famous people. Adam had a curiosity about almost everything he encountered. He was inquisitive almost to a fault, driving his parents to distraction with his continuously asking, Why? or What if? Why is the snow white? Why do birds always make so much noise in the early morning? Why does water freeze? His father encouraged such questions and bought him a set of The Wonderbook of Knowledge" (an encyclopedia for younger readers). Together, they would sit and learn from the encyclopedia. His father would patiently try to explain nature’s wonders in as clear and understandable a way that he could. Days were much too short to allow Adam enough time to satisfy his curiosity. At night, all the things he saw and learned from his readings and observations during the day played back to him in his mind as he lay in bed, trying to make sense of what he had learned about the world – putting all the pieces into a logical perspective.

When his father was drafted into the Army and sent to Vietnam, Adam’s mother enrolled him in the local public school in town. And when Adam tried to discuss or explain his feelings about the world to other boys in school, they thought him odd, if not a bit weird and crazy. They laughed at him when he tried to explain his experiences. Other kids would look at him and point, as they talked amongst themselves. Then they would all laugh. No one seemed to understand or appreciate the feelings he felt when he was alone with nature. He reluctantly came to realize it would be best not to tell others about his feelings, even though many kids tried to tease him into talking, and then would mock him.

But there was one student in the school who didn’t seem to laugh, but smiled welcomingly when she saw Adam. That was Evelyn - to him, the prettiest girl in the school. She didn’t laugh nor try to avoid him. Adam was drawn to her, and tried to sit next to her at lunch. As they became friends, Adam confided his feelings about nature to Evelyn, and she was not dismissive. She seemed interested and questioned Adam about what he was hearing. Eventually, Adam invited Evelyn to come to his house, listen to the waterfall, and experience nature with him. Evelyn came and listened, but admitted she did not hear the same things Adam was hearing. But she did love the area and the natural beauty of the grounds. Adam tried to explain that the ability to hear the voice and music of nature was a process that had to be learned, but just appreciating nature was something special, and something everyone could do.

Their friendship flourished and turned to love. Adam’s father never came home. He was killed in Vietnam, and Adam assumed the role of consoling and caring for his mother, whose memory began to fail, and who withdrew into her own increasingly isolated world. Adam could not spend much free time courting Evelyn, but they planned to get married after graduation from high school, and after Adam secured a stable job. Shortly after graduating from high school, Adam became an apprentice at a local auto body shop and garage, and was soon hired as a mechanic. With an income assured, a Justice of the Peace in a small, private ceremony married him and Evelyn. After marriage, they moved into the Gardner family house, where their time and energy was spent caring for Adam’s mother till she died of pneumonia twelve years later. In time, Adam and Evelyn’s family slowly grew, to eventually include three sons.

After their first son, Jacob, was born, they adopted a rescue Belgium Shepherd mix named Pavlov, to be a companion to Evelyn and Jacob, while Adam worked in town as a car mechanic. Evelyn took up gardening seriously. It all worked out well. Adam could go to work during the weekdays, Evelyn could be occupied in her garden, and Pavlov would look after Jacob and guard the property. Two years later, their second son, Aaron, was born, and Pavlov gladly accepted his additional charge and duties. Adam had learned to do modest home repairs, along with some carpentry, plumbing, and electrical work from his father, who had set up a work shop in the basement. Adam was handy, and had no hesitation in tackling home renovations that were needed to accommodate his growing family. Nine years after their third son, Benjamin was born, Pavlov died, and Adam and Evelyn felt a need to get a new dog, this time a puppy. At work, Adam met a man whose yellow Labrador retriever had just delivered a litter, and he offered Adam a puppy. Galileo (or Galli) became the sixth member of the family.

Adam led a simple and quiet life on his property. He tried to home-school his sons and educate them about the magic of the universe and their obligation to protect, respect, and protect nature as best they could, just as his father had taught him. As the boys grew older, Adam realized they needed a more structured curriculum and each boy was enrolled in public school, when he reached the sixth grade. Their growth and development were always a source of great pleasure and pride in both Adam and Evelyn. They were a close-knit family with few outside distractions, other than those necessitated by the boys school, work at the garage, or fulfilling the basic needs of living - interacting with the outside world by mail and shopping. Life was good. The world was good. Nothing seemed lacking. Adam and Evelyn felt content and at peace with the world, alone with their children, in the idyllic nest they had created.

THERE’S SO MUCH HIDDEN IN THE WORLD

THAT WE CANNOT SEE

Part 1

Genesis

Chapter 1 — Beginnings

The cool wet mist and the more drenching spray of the waterfall tingled Adam Gardner’s face as he sat on a rock looking out at the falls. This felt good and reassuring to him: just what he needed and wanted most this sunny summer day. He wanted to be closer than normal to the falls; in physical contact with the falls, not just hearing or seeing it. The water was hopefully washing away his anguish. To Adam, now in his late sixties, the falls and the river were the very heart and circulation that supported all nature in his private world. It carved out the earth and rocks and washed away any debris that fell into its reach. Here, Adam could absorb the spirit and soul of nature, as he often heard it speaking to him, inspiring him, and energizing him from the waters.

The source of the river that flowed near Adam Gardner’s homestead was mysterious: originating from some subterranean unexplored place in northern Maine or Ontario, as legend went. A few miles upstream from where Adam would go to see the waterfall, the river had narrowed and became more turbulent, with large boulders barely submerged below the surface. The river then fell some eighty feet in a divided and broken waterfall, ending in a large, deep plunge pool of water that had been scooped out of the rock by the pounding and pressure of the water cascading through the rocky channel over the millennia. Adam sensed the falls were the center of energy and the primordial source for all the nature that surrounded his home and his world. The river, and particularly the falls, had a mysterious and spiritual power, derived from the very substance of nature. The naturally formed pool, just downstream from the waterfall, sat like a large mixing bowl, with sections showing a churning vortex of mixing currents, and other sections where water just seemed to calmly rotate. Adam would be fascinated watching river eddies and small whirlpools suddenly form, and then disappear. It was an ever-changing mosaic of color and pattern. Downstream, as the ground became more level, the river took a sharp bend with an even more tranquil large pool of deep water. This could be a refreshing area for swimming on a hot summer day, if the swimmer, like Adam, was familiar with the different currents, and with the boulders in the water and on the shore. From there, the river flowed downstream for several miles, till it slowed again, dividing into wetlands with broad marshes, with a gentle lazy flow and where the main flow split into several wide shallow channels. Here a variety of waterfowl could be seen most days, searching for their fish dinner, or just swimming quietly with their brood. From there, the waters made their way down to the Gulf of Maine and the sea – finally merging into the Atlantic Ocean.

At times Adam reflected on the history of these waters, and compared them with the history of the world, or of life: having a mysterious beginning, stretches of increased mixing, sorting, rearrangement, turbulence and violence, a period (or periods) of climactic clashing of competing forces, pools of repetitive circulation, then a resolution into a peaceful calm, with an eventual quiet ending in the vast enigma of the ocean.

Adam always enjoyed the short walk from his home to the waterfall. Most days he brought Galli, his eight-year-old devoted Yellow Labrador retriever (named after Galileo, whom Adam admired for his insight and intellect, qualities he also perceived in his canine companion). Galli loved the short run to the falls, with the smells and fresh air he encountered along the way. But Galli particularly loved Adam, and, if allowed, he would follow Adam everywhere and anywhere he went. He would always be on the lookout for any wild animals or any threat to Adam, although there never was any. The path laced through the woods and shrubs, passing the unmarked edge of his property. A short distance further, the trail turned dramatically, and descended rather steeply some fifty feet to the waterfall. This last section was public land. He did not own the falls. It was there for everyone. But he never encountered anyone else in this area. Since he saw no other maintained access to this site from his side of the river, Adam assumed that people who previously lived on his land had developed the trail. The waterfall itself was magnetic, always calling Adam and drawing him forwards. It seemed the center of energy for everything in the region: hypnotic, exhilarating and inspiring. But in a strange way it was also calming and reassuring. It spoke to him and his inner soul. The falls told him, The world is full of wonder - see it - enjoy it - cherish it! It is yours, care for it! Nature is supreme, and is a gift to all humanity! Adam could hear his late father’s voice speaking through the falls - teaching him, guiding him, loving him.

The grandeur of the river and waterfall varied with the season and quantity of water flowing downstream. But the falls seemed also to respond to his mood, to inspire him and interact with him in light dance, in tantalizing him, or just in overwhelming him with its majesty and grandeur. He felt there was something supernatural about the falls, and he never tired of seeing its beauty or feeling its energy and majesty. Here he felt at one with the natural world. Moses had his Burning Bush in the Sinai Peninsula, and the Buddha had his Bodhi Tree in India. Adam had his waterfall. To Adam, visiting the falls was truly a spiritual experience.

Adam always enjoyed the cool fresh air, and the gentle sound and feel of his weight crunching the path, announcing his presence and participation in the natural world. There was an undisturbed peace that exhilarated and engulfed him when he stopped every so often to listen, and breathe in the fragrances of the cool fresh air. Adam felt surrounded by well-known friends: the flora and fauna of the area. He knew this path by heart; he was sure he could walk it with his eyes closed. He had taken this walk most every day over the past fifty years. He loved watching the leaves change color with the changing seasons and with their growth, and their annual loss. In winter, Adam liked the sound of crunching the snow, and Galli loved jumping into the deep drifts. In the coldest days of winter, the falls froze almost completely, and looked like a magnificent ice-sculpture. But there was always a hidden current flowing. On sunny wintery days, the whole area looked like a Currier and Ives winter idyllic scene - one that might be seen in a jigsaw puzzle. But each season had its appeal and its message for Adam to enjoy.

The other side of the river and waterfall was only a bit more developed. There was a rustic recreational area with hiking trails, a small area for parking, with a narrow dirt road that led to the county highway – the road that provided access to the area, and which served the community. Occasionally, during clear bright days, Adam would see people walking on the other side of the river, and would watch them stop their hike to take in the majestic scene. He never could speak with them, as the noise of the falls drowned out any possible vocal interchange. At most, they could wave to each other, if they happened to be looking his way when he was looking at theirs. They appeared as distant, moving manikins, acting upon a stage. Adam would try to imagine the vista, as they would see it; from their perspective, they certainly would have a very different view of the falls and its surroundings. Did they have a similar reaction to the river as he? What went through their minds when they viewed the natural beauty of the area? Did they share the thrill and excitement that the waterfall engendered in him? Did it speak to them? Or was his vantage such, that only he was able to absorb the scene, or feel the impact of the falls from his unique perspective? He never took the trip to the other side, since without a nearby bridge to cross the river; the journey to the other side would take a good half hour drive by car. Adam pondered: Did anyone ever get a comprehensive picture of the beautiful scene of the falls? Everyone looks at the world from his or her own personal perspective and sees only the view that their position allows. Probably very few people make the effort to see things from another vantage.

But beside a mild interest, actually Adam had no burning desire to actually see the waterfall and river from the other side. He was very satisfied and comfortable with his perspective, and felt no urge to change his image of the river. However, he did try to imagine experiencing the river and waterfall as if he were a small branch floating along with the current: the surprising sudden change in the stream that moved the water from one direction to another and swept the branch to the precipice. The waterfall itself displayed immense raw natural power, and the thunder of its Siren call could be heard for miles around, even from his home, if he listened carefully. Its sound beckoned him toward the falls, as if by a strong magnetic pull. The mist and spray of the pounding water shrouded the base of the falls, which made it even more mysterious. The actual focal point of all the tumbling water was beyond human view, hidden in white turbulence and the mist of the water spray. The pounding, crashing cascade of water dispersed molecules of water high into the air, mixing fine droplets with air and changing its appearance into a white churning froth. But despite the turbulence, the droplets all came back together into a tranquil pool. Here, displayed before him was chaos, turbulence, resolution, tranquility, and peace. On occasion he would also be treated to the sight of a rainbow that seemed to frame the falls.

Adam usually wanted to make no disturbance in the environment by his presence and wanted to feel nature, undisturbed or unmolested by human intrusion. He was an observer, not an active player. He wanted to feel as if he were silently gliding through an unspoiled world – floating peacefully along, disturbing nothing. Everything was being preserved – nothing unnatural was