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In the story of Ulysses, from Homer’s Odyssey, he is on his ship, trying to make his way home? He knows he will pass by the Isle of the Sirens, those voices sing out across the sea in such enticing tones that many sailors are led to their deaths on the jagged, rocky shores, never to see home or their destination. Ulysses commanded that his men put wax in their ears so they could not hear those voices and so be led to their destruction. But for himself, he was tied to the mast so that he could hear their singing. He commanded that none of his orders while hearing them were to be obeyed. The voices almost drive him mad until finally the ship passes by, the voices are stilled, and once more his ears are filled with the voices of his wife and son, with home, with his true destination. So many voices crying out to us on our journey,
Temptation has that effect on everyone. When we set sail towards temptation we are fighting a battle that is far greater than our human capacity to endure. Had Ulysses not had himself tied to the mast and told his sailors to ignore his desire to set off after the tempting allures of the forbidden island he too would have made shipwreck along the shores of life’s many temptations.
Continue reading “Fighting Temptation”
