education, schooling, upbringing;
training, indoctrination.

Having shown no remorse for killing his brother Abel, Cain fixed his attention on the life of his firstborn. The boy would be useful. He would become a fuller, better projection of who and what Cain saw himself to be. He calculated that success as a father would tip the scales of judgment back in his direction, just a little, offsetting any culpability he might have incurred in the misfortune that befell Abel.

Cain had reconsidered j his brother’s n passing w. That it had been predictable and almost unavoidable k held no surprise for him! For some time, now, it had been well past time to move on; and by the time young Enoch was born, the enthusiasm j natural to first-time fathers had twisted within Cain—had metastasized n—into a boastful, self-righteous, and self-serving w arrogance k. Yes, he had been maligned, shunned, and—yes—ostracized because he had been the brother who had been marked by the Father’s curse in front of everybody; but Cain would make amends on his own! He had come to view j his son n as his own property w, his means of public vindication k; and he would use him well.

When alone, every now and then, but less frequently as time moved on, he sometimes wished he could muster w the strength and fortitude c to admit a that he had been—in part, at least, it might be said by some—to blame l; but before he could take a public step in that direction, he would require assurance that repentance would end t the hassles c, the humiliating o aggravation z! In this mean time on his own, he would build Enoch!

Early on, young Enoch would be trained to manage the city Cain envisioned for his posterity. He intended to bury the memory of Abel under its walls; so it was vital that Enoch’s ascendency in Nod be legendary. With that goal above any real concern for the boy himself, Cain remained anxious j; for he was unwilling to entertain n an alternative w   to his intentions k. He could not fail!

A selfish father, Cain’s relationship j with Enoch had been nearly hopeless n from its beginning. Self-promotion w was the father’s priority, and he needed to spend his time focused on his own affairs; so he avoided k natural connections with his son by framing every moment he spent with the lad in terms of his own needs and expectations. He kept coming back to this strategy for parenting because he believed it was the right approach.

From Enoch’s birth, the father had been determined to exploit j the son's energies for his own purposes n. He made no apologies; but he could sense Adam’s concern, which Cain took as accusation—a judgment w that would have to be proven wrong k.

In a moment of unspoken doubt, however, he was surprised o to realize h that he‘d grown tired n of this public charade z, and of its effects y within his family b. Upset by a complicated future, he bitterly g considered m his predicament t and doubted w the likelihood c of his ability a to control l all variables—even if they were limited to those that had already presented themselves. He suspected that, in the future t, he would not have the wherewithal c to simply carry on o  with all that would be required of him z.

In Enoch of Nod, residents would not be allowed to question his edicts; for his rule would strictly override the concerns of lesser men. To Cain’s recovering senses, Adam's expulsion and banishment n to Nod had provided him a way of escape w from the Heavenly Father’s faces; for father Adam had also become tarnished! He would make use of this opportunity d by establishing an organizational structure s that would advance k  and secure d his legacy w in Nod.

In the exhilaration of planning ahead, he persuaded himself that the details of his loss of standing n because of his fight with Abel had faded, somewhat, which he read as tacit acceptance w of his natural inflexibility d: first, he wasn’t responsible for his nature; and, second, he had not died after allowing his God-given nature to take its course. Truth be told, in fact, God was the responsible party.

Should Cain, himself, die in the future (God forbid), his offspring n would grow to appreciate w his insights d about what must follow—well, maybe only about what might follow p; but as for the moment, Cain's decisive d and unrivaled s leadership l of the clan f was the family's best guarantee y of a prosperous b way forward g.