Tall tree in the spring There are times in our lives when we have thoughts that feel deep and also really unsettling at the same time. One of those times is when the thought comes: what if the struggles we go through in life are not just accidents but are actually meant to happen? What if they’re not just things we should try to escape but are actually a big part of what it means to be human? This idea frequently surfaces when we think about the story of the Garden of Eden.