The Genesis story about Cain and Abel has often been interpreted as a story about sibling jealousy and questionable parenting, but the actual biblical text is about the conflict of two modes of relating to Reality—Reality with a capital “R”—that absolutely Mysterious All-Powerfulness that meets us in every event of our lives.

Every Abel and every Cain is closer to this Mysterious Reality than to his or her own breathing. The truth that Reality is infinitely beyond us does not change the truth that Reality is also infinitely close to us. This is true for women as well men. Abel and Cain are two different relationships with Reality for any he or she.

Abel’s mode of worship is a symbol of that obedience to the Moses style of realism that was carved out in 40 years of wilderness practices. After this Moses-trained, One-Reality-loving community of people conquered a place for themselves in that more fertile land of promise, a deep religions conflict took place between the Moses monotheism and the Canaanite diversity of devotions that celebrated the many different powers of being human.

In this story, Cain’s mode of worship was a devotion to these many aspects of human life. His many gods and goddesses represent different aspects of our humanity. These were and still are real powers in our lives, worthy of some access and care, but no one of these devotions, nor all of them together, is a devotion to that One Reality that creates and destroys all aspects of our humanity. So the Canaanite relationship with that One Reality was a flight from that One Reality into a devotion to the various aspects of being human. This put Canaanite humanism in severe conflict with a devotion to that One Truth of that One Awesome Reality of Moses.

Cain’s worship in this brief story was a symbol for Canaanite religious practices. According to the biblical story, Reality/God favored Abel’s religious practice over Cain’s religious practice. Understanding the text here is not easy, for we may not be clear about the meaning of animal sacrifice to those ancient people. An animal that had come into human possession was viewed as a gift from God, a food source not so easily come by. So in Abel’s religious practice, we are seeing a big gift from the Grand Giver that is being given back to the Giver. This is also reflected in that story about Abraham being prepared to give back the gift of his only son Isaac to the Giver of Isaac. This is a view of “sainthood” that was also seen in the life of Jesus, whose death was seen as Jesus giving back his life to the Giver of his life: “Into thy hands I commend my consciousness.” Luke: 23:46

Cain presented as his gift to Reality works of his own hands. According to the biblical story, this was less favored by Reality. Nothing is said in the story about how anyone knew whose ritual Reality favored, but let us guess that Abel’s ritual was something like one of those truthful sermons that fill a whole room with Awe so thick that it seems we could cut that Awe with a knife. Cain’s ritual, let us suppose, was like so much of our empty talk; it called forth no Awe at all.

Somehow Cain saw that Reality favored his brother’s ritual, but rejected Cain’s ritual. At that point in the story, we find this key message being said by Reality/God to Cain:

If you practice realism, you can hold up your head,
If not, then demonic action is crouching at the door;
it is eager for you, but you must master it.
Genesis 4:7 a very slight rewording

In this old story, Cain does not master his envy, his anger, his resentments. He chooses to go with his angry resentments, rather than with his deep freedom to master such resentments and perhaps ferret out what they meant.

Cain’s overt actions follow from his primal choice. He cannot kill Reality, but he can kill Abel and he does so. In this story, Reality notices Abel’s death and says to Cain: “Where is your brother Abel?”

Cain answered, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s shepherd?” This was a double lie. He did know, and he was his brother’s keeper, just as we humans are all built to care about all the neighbors that God/Reality provides to us.

Reality speaks again: “What have you done? Hark! Your brother’s blood that has been shed is crying out to me from the ground.” Reality in this story goes on to spell out all the ways that Cain is now estranged from the ground that grows his food, from himself, from other people, and most of all from Reality. A mark of this estrangement is placed on Cain’s forehead.

We need to understand that Cain as well as Abel is as aspect of each of us. Cain is humanity, sustained, protected, even forgiven, yet stained with the mark of a murderous impulse.

The story ends with these poetic and sobering words: Cain went out from Reality’s presence and settled in the land of Nod, to the east of Eden. The word “Nod” can be translated “Wandering.” Cain is now wandering away from the land of Mysterious Realism. He has killed Abel in himself as well as in his fellow human. He is wandering, looking for his Home Reality, his promised Land, but not finding it. He is wandering somewhere to the east of authenticity.

Cain’s story is about the European immigrants to Tasmania who killed every Tasmanian and to the European immigrants to Australia who killed most of the Aborigines of that land.

So it is with the European immigrants to North, Central, and South America who killed huge numbers of natives in that land. So it is with a German population who killed 10 million or more Jews, Gypsies, Poles, Russians, and others. This grim story continues to go on in many ways in many places. This is done by our species of life on this planet. The Mark of Cain is on our foreheads.

Both Cain and Abel are humanity. Every man and every woman is both Cain who has lost his Abel-ness, and an Abel-ness that is an offense to Cain. Jesus is such an offense from the perspective of our Cain-ness, for Jesus is Cain’s own lost Abel which Cain has killed. Our Cain-like humanity killed Jesus because our Cain-ness perceived Jesus-hood as an “enemy” who dared to expose our Cain-hood by setting before us the possibility of our Abel-hood of uncompromising realism.

It was our Cain who brought black slaves to the U.S. and continues to mistreats their descendants. It is our Cain who rejects Hispanic immigrants coming to this land for asylum.

Perhaps we can hear the blood of Abel in those Hispanic children separated from their parents who is crying out to to be heard from what is left of the Abel-ness in our common humanity.

So let us look more fully at what this strange old story has to do with our daily lives today. Let us consider our politics, as an example. Politicians who tell lies create a movement that is murderous. Politicians who tell the truth create a movement that is hated by the liars, but which opens us all to the possibilities of truthful living.

This murderous hatred arising in we liars is a strange blessing, an opportunity for our Cain-ness to master his or her envy, hatred, and resentment with the truth of our freedom to live a truthful life.

Finally, I want to rescue this ancient story of Cain and Abel from one more serious misunderstanding. This story is not about Jewish religion being better than Canaanite religion or about Christian religion being better than Jewish religion and Canaanite religion. This story is not about what I say about my religion or about your religion. It is not about what you say about my religion or about your religion.

This story is about what God says (that is, what Reality says) about my religion and your religion and everyone’ else’s religion. If we have no idea what it means to listen to what Reality is saying about my religion, or your religion, or anyone’s religion, then we have no idea about what religions is or what religion is for in human life.

The critique of religion by Reality is step one in the healing from our Cain estrangements. Step two is our mastery of our envy, hatred, and resentment with a freedom that leads to a release of our essential care for all our neighbors—for Cain and Abel.