". . . lead me not into temptation."

In my entire existence, not a single day has passed me by that I have not been subjected to temptation. In every corner I see, in every path I cross, and in every thing I come upon, there is always that something that would make me wiggle my knees in surrender.


Our being a man: vulnerable and fragile (or so we insist), makes a very good Express Getaway when someone would ask us in an irritated tone, seemingly disdainful, "Why did you do it?"

Temptation. An occurrence easily justified by many by simply saying "Hey! I'm only human."


I admit. I am a frequenter of temptation.

For a minute, I'd appreciatively watch a taste bud-tickling Baklava sweetened with honey, sit prettily on a plate... I'd look around hoping not to catch another eye looking at the same priced treasure I had my eyes on and when there would be none, I'd be off performing my magical feat. The next minute, just like magic *POOF!* It disappears... (And off to my stomach it goes!)

Every morning, I am tempted to laze on my bed and just sleep. I once landed up reasoning with myself saying, 'Forget about school! I still have two more chances to be absent left before the teacher could drop me from her class.' I know. Bad, right? As if class attendance is similar to that of the Life Ups in the Supermario game: one down, two more left. (Lucky me if I get another mushroom on the way, then I get another one up!)

It's a minor thing to be tempted by a visit to La-la land or be tempted by a sweet-looking, mouth-drooling, lip-licking STOMACH-PLEASURE. There are a thousand other kinds of sitch that fall on a different categorical degree of temptation. Some are even infernal, if you know what I mean. *winks*


If you are faced with temptation and it stares you right in the eye, what do you do? Do you wobble in fear and melt like cheese on fire? Or do you stare back, poke it in the eye and say with conviction, “No!”


Temptation could be so strong especially for those who tried to resist it. Surely, those who once resisted the power of temptation could attest to the strength that it holds. And I’m even more positive that majority of those who tried to resist eventually gave up and submitted.


I used to think that when I am confronted with situations that would persistently demand my compliance, I am left with no other choice but to just submit myself rather than go through the tsuris of obdurately outbraving it.

As the cliché goes: If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Right??
Wrong!

Imagine if no one ever had the courage to say no to every temptation that would present itself like a naked woman in front of a man? We would all probably have an express ticket to the underworld by now. Or worse, we won’t need the underworld; Earth will turn out to be as hellish as any other place on the universe.

Remember, not everything that starts out good will end up well. Newton’s law of motion states: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. A variety of action-reaction force pairs are already evident in nature. Say for instance, it is impossible for anybody to slap somebody else in the face really hard without having his hands hurt in the impact. It is simple science and sense.

And do you remember how our dear mother Eve and dear father Adam got educated with Newton’s 3rd Law? The moment they decided to feast on the fruit of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, they secured themselves with a world of contempt and billions of children who, just like them, are slaves of temptation. If you would beg to differ and would insist to say I’m wrong, perhaps you need to think twice before you utter your prayer, ‘lead me not into temptation’ and try to remember the time you stuck your finger on the icing on the cake before it was even served.

Now, don’t you think it’s about time we practice becoming like Jim Carry before he became the ‘Yes-Man’ and start saying ‘No’ to those that we know would cause us moral deterioration and major damage?

Although at times it may seem more convenient to just go with the flow than fight the current, there is always that greater feeling of reward when you triumph over the things you actually gave effort to fight against.

Think about this, ‘would you rather give in to the temptation and suffer the guilt and bear the can of worms afterwards or would you rather struggle against the urge and savor the victory after winning the fight?

Lost for words

Bashful
,


-Jose Garcia Villa

Jose Garcia villa, the famous Filipino writer whose collections include: 'Poems by Doveglion', 'Many Voies' and a lot more, wrote the poem "Bashful", containing nothing more but a single comma.I cannot help but applaud the paradox that the poem exhibits. Bashful, yes.. but the boldness of the poem, the comma, the truth it articulately displays speak of so many things.


I envy him.

Why?


Because he found it so easy to express a fusion of meaningful emotions with a single punctuation while I, on the other hand, find it really difficult to express myself with just a single word.

And that's not it,the problem of finding something that would manifest my emotion is just one thing,to finally express it is a different matter entirely.Ugh!

I invoke the spirit of the Comma Poet, Jose Garcia Villa. Please shed me streak of your magnificence.

So if I even run down into a fit of anger, into the zenith of my happiness or whatever is in between,
I may be able to freely put it across.

And so that I may finally put an end to the silence I tend to resort into every time I stumble upon a sitch worth gnashing my teeth on.

I invoke thee.

Oh so help me God.