I have been always fascinated by
the story of the apple and man’s first sin. At the outset, it is a
straightforward demonstration of human nature. We love the forbidden. We love
to reach beyond our limits, to touch what’s beyond us. Exploration of the
unknown is our inherent nature. Deep within, the explorer calls out to every
single one of us. And therefore over the ages, men have sinned – gone beyond
the acceptable limits.
However, on deeper analysis, sin
is a lot more complicated. And nothing demonstrates its veracious stages better
than gluttony, the only sin I succumb to again and again. It starts with
temptation – the subtle hints that come to you from the aroma, from the sounds
in the kitchen, the clink of glasses, the sizzle of a molten lava cake, the
sudden appearance of a red velvet dream. The next is resistance. We turn
around, we refuse and yet the hunger rises within and it’s a hunger like no
other. It’s not for physical satiety, rather it’s for the soul, the tainted
soul. For the pure soul can resist any temptation. We try to retain the purity.
But unlike the Son of God, we finally succumb.
What follows next is the actual
act of sinning. We vacillate between snobbery at it best and Gluttony at its
worst. In the former, we assume the shroud of pretence, assume who we are not
and then slowly we slide in to our sin. In the other, the distinction between
man, created in the image of God, and an animal slowly vanishes and in some
strange semblance to the apocalyptic world of Animal Farm, men forget their
nature.
What results however, is only
temporary satiety. The soul is tainted a bit more but the now darkened soul is
not satisfied. It wants more and more.
Post this, comes repent. A
shameful look at self and the promise of making every bad deed good comes. And
if the repent is strong maybe temptation is kept at bay. For temptation, it is
certain to come and the cycle repeats itself.
The question is – can it be
broken?
