does anyone else find the story of cain and abel tragic not just for abel, but for cain as well?
i mean, they were brothers, they grew up hand in hand. tiller and shepherd. one raises life out of the dirt, the other puts the life back into it. they loved each other, so much that abel died, so much that cain killed him.
abel was a tragedy of a child prodigy, the golden child. he was favored chosen again and again, to the point where he was killed. he was as innocent as the livestock he sacrificed. a shepherd into the lamb. he never meant to be, he loved his brother. he loved his brother when they were kids, he loved his brother when they were offering to god, he loved his brother when he followed him into the field, he loved his brother even as he died.
cain was a tragedy of a child pushed aside. how many times had he noticed his brother getting favored? did he know he was undesired, that his effort would never be enough? cain didnt know about murder, it wasnt a thing. did he know how abel choses his sacrifices? did he see how he took the prettiest, most well kept lamb of the flock and took it to god? did he see how god favored the crimson from the lamb more than the gold of his wheat? did he lay abel out as a sacrifice? hoping that in the crimson of his brother, so perfect and good like the lambs he offers, cain would finally be enough?
