Seven Deadly Sins: Gluttony

I'm going to continue posting about some of the seven deadly sins. I've chosen another sin which I believe is usually misunderstood/ignored.

Heaven knows why I care about this stuff so much...

Gluttony
"All I want..."
Gluttony is placing too much value on physical feelings. It pushes you to get the feeling again, again, again. The action which creates these physical feelings was originally beneficial (i.e. eating), but gluttony twists this simple act past its beneficial intentions.

Gluttony doesn't always come in large portions though, it can take the form of luxury as well. As C.S. Lewis suggests in "The Screwtape Letters", it often takes to form of "all I want." "All I want" is tea at exactly the right temperature. "All I want" is an egg properly boiled.

While it might seem that this is un-gluttonous, thinking this way means you are still placing excessive attention on a physical feeling. You are valuing that perfect feeling, rather than the nutrition of the food or the feelings of the cook.

Don't think that gluttony only applies to food either. Remember, this is any physical feeling.

In Defense of Disney Villains #1

I love classic Disney movies. But I have become increasingly aware of a consistent bias in these films.

Hero/heroine's motivations are always presented as superior to those of the antagonist. They assume that the hero/heroine is justified in their actions, while at the same time completely failing to consider the motivations of the villain.

In order to right this grievous wrong, I will attempt in these blogs to present the motivations of several villains in a fair and unbiased manner.

Governor Ratcliffe: (Pocahontas)- Dedication to country

The fifteenth century had just begun, and all the world's greatest powers rushed to the New World to lay claim to it and its resources. England was falling far behind her competitors. How could this nation maintain her greatness? With the help of great men, willing to leave their home and comforts behind to brave oceans, disease, and deadly natives to save England from obscurity. Men like Governor Ratcliffe!

Once they landed in the New World, he watched as his crew slowly lost sight of their goal. How could he achieve fame and glory for his nation when his men wanted to drop everything over some teenage tree-hugging native? Even in the face of opposition, his dedication to country gave him the clarity of mind to make the unpopular decision and attempt to wipe out an entire tribe of peace-loving Indians.

Seven Deadly Sins: Greed

I've decided to start writing blogs about one of my other interests which I spend a lot of time thinking about.
The Seven Deadly Sins.


(It may seem odd to be fascinated by something so negative. It probably is. However, I have found that understanding this has helped me find sin in my life which I hadn't even thought about before. It's all very challenging.)


First off, I'd like to write about one which I think is most often misunderstood.

GREED

"Keep a hold. Don't let it go. Don't ever let go."


This has often been mistaken for lust. While lust over-values aquiring things, greed over-values keeping things. And these don't have to be physical things. Oftentimes it is information or time that greed latches on to; it doesn't want to share with other people.

If there is something which you think you can not live without, you've found greed. Greed avoids risk or adventure as a way to prevent this loss. I learned this from C.S. Lewis' Narnian Chronicle: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, during which an exploratory voyage is constantly assailed by temptations to turn back or stay put in order to prevent the loss of their lives or possessions.

Eventually greed becomes obsessed with clinging to the temporary trappings of this planet. A greedy person, and their possessions, become completely useless.

Invincible

You’re invincible.

Invincible.

I don’t think anyone realizes that.
Oh sure, this body might stop working, but you'll get another.
For all practical purposes you are immortal, indestructible.
You’re all walking around on eggshells like you’ve got something to lose here and you’ve got to hold on to it.
It’s burning away in your hands, don’t you get it?
Don’t you feel your fragile body quickly giving way?
Don’t you see forever stretching on ahead of you?

Forever has already begun.

You might think that gets you off the hook. It doesn’t.
You are going to exist forever, got that? Forever. What are you going to do about it?

What you do now has eternal ramifications for you.
And those you live with.
Who will you align yourself with?
Who are you entrusting with yourself forever?
Immortality can be a horrible place.
Eternity can be damnation.
Alone in the dark forever.

Unless.

You gave yourself to Someone besides yourself.

Think about it.

Forever has already begun.

Red Flight

Airplane rides are essentially tiny morsels of communism.


Someone somewhere has complete control of where you're going. You depend on this someone for food, water, even air. Enforcers patrol the streets/aisles, making sure everyone stays in line. They even tell you when you can use the bathroom.

For so many hours, you are part of the collective, a commune, and you abandon your individual rights and comfort for the betterment and safety of the group. The only difference, I suppose, is that instead of working in some government approved work place, you are simply asked to "enjoy your flight."

Death, Rain, Dirt

Rain

Laid down in earth

Where the death of life is washed away

By dirt and water all is clean

There is no tragedy

In going back to your roots

Roots of the tree

That cradles your casket

And rocks your sleeping skeleton

Home again

From your long sojourn in foreign lands

On concrete platforms

Some factory

Above spinning wheels

Branches

Beckoning arms

A blur beyond glass and calendar events

Pass away pass away

Soon your sorrows will be washed by rain

Pass away pass away

Death shall decompose and you will be home

-Death, Rain, Dirt

(Death never killed anybody)

The Hypothetical Shedding Light On Yourself

What if I took you to a place you've been before.
An office? The street? A grocery store? The DMV?

What if I hypnotized you.
But, instead of telling you what to do,
what if I set you free?

To do exactly what you long to do,
but have learned not to.
Your inner child unleashed.

What would you do?
Who are you really?

Would you dance?
Would you explore?
Would you destroy?
Would you rearrange things?
Build?
Hide?
Create?
Stockpile?
Clean?
Embrace?
Would you paint everything blue?

Would you hurt people?
Burn everything?

Would you do anything at all?

Confidence

A MacDonald's drive through. I roll down my window and hand over the money.

"Umm, I-I think that's enough?" I stammer.

The twenty-something with greasy hair stuffed under a rumpled cap gazes back at me.

She seems equally unsure about the existence of the money.

After a moments pause, she cautiously lifts it from my hand.

She avoids my eyes, just as I avoid hers. She counts the money and puts it in the drawer.

I shift uneasily in my seat. I reach up to scratch my head, but change my mind and put my hand back in my lap.

Announcing the amount of change I've earned, she holds it out.

With a start, I realize that she wants me to take the money from her. I rush to cut the awkward silence short and almost knock the change from her hand.

"Have a nice day." She says. She attempts a nervous smile.

She glances at me for a millisecond, uneasy, then spins back to her register.


Trust me friend, I speak with experience when I say:

People feel more comfortable around you if you act with confidence.



The reason for this has eluded me for most of my life. However, after the experience conveyed above, I have a hypothesis which I believe is logical.

Every person on earth knows, deep in their subconscious, that someday, the world will end.

That's right.

And this knowledge creates a tiny anxiety in the back of their minds. Like an itch on the back of their neck. Or a dog barking incessantly four houses down while they are trying to do their taxes. The anxiety bothers them, but not quite enough for them to know it's there.

When they converse with someone who behaves with confidence, they get the impression that this person knows that the world won't be ending just yet. They gather that this person must have somehow come upon knowledge of the inner workings of the universe. Therefore, that nagging anxiety about the end of the world is momentarily put to rest.

However, when they speak to someone like me, who acts uneasy and confused, that nagging anxiety is confirmed. They begin to worry that this person might know something they don't.

Fear builds up inside them. Perhaps the world will end now... or now! Goodness!

They long to speak to that confident person again so they can stop imagining the parking lot opening up and swallowing the entire restaurant.




So that's how it happens. I'm pretty much positive. Maybe.