Lead me not into temptation...

I remember when I suggested that this whole faith thing would be a lot easier if God could remove the temptation to sin in my life.  I heard a homily where the priest said, “Without battle, there cannot be victory.  So don’t pray for the battle to end.  It will never end.  Pray for the strength to do what is right in every situation, and thus enjoy the fruits of victory.”

So I guess it’s naive of me to hope that sin will somehow leave me alone. I should focus on what I do, not if, but when temptation comes.

I’m reminded of the story of Ulysses.  The sirens from the sea were these horrible monsters.  They would sing this beautiful song and entrance men to drive their boats into the rocks and eventually death.  Evil disguised as beauty, luring men to death.  Ok, this sounds like sin to me.  What is interesting is looking at three different approaches to dealing with this temptation.

1.  Avoidance – Ulysses had his men put beeswax in their ears so they couldn’t hear anything.  Boom, no siren song, no temptation, no death.  Seems like a pretty effective approach.
2.  Control – Ulysses was curious of the beauty, so he had his men strap him to the mast of the ship.  As he heard the sirens, he screamed and begged for his men to untie him so he could jump in the water.  Of course the men didn’t since they couldn’t hear him, and could clearly see the creatures over by those rocks were hideous and should be avoided. I understand Ulysses' game plan here.  He gets to experience the sensation of the act, even if it’s just a taste, without crossing the line.  This is an extremely dangerous way to handle temptation.  If an alcoholic asks to smell your drink, does that seem like a good idea?  You are still feeding the brokenness inside you, even if you use control to limit your response.  I never want to flirt with the illusion and seduction of sin.  That’s a recipe for trouble.
3. True beauty – So there is a third choice here.  Jason and the Argonauts were also on a ship passing these sirens. He was traveling with Orpheus. Orpheus was an incredible singer and musician.   When the sirens started their enticing call as the ship was passing by, what Jason did was had Orpheus sing.  He played as loud and beautifully as he could, filling the boat and the men’s ears with his music.  It overpowered the calls of the sirens.  True beauty flooded that boat so much that the illusion of beauty never had a chance.

Another example of this third approach happened in Antioch many years ago.  Bishop Nonnus of Edessa was speaking to a group of bishops outside the basilica. While he was talking, Pelagia passed by, a prostitute scantily dressed with jewels.  She was stunning.  Bishop Nonnus stopped speaking and watched her intently as she passed by.  He noticed the others had all turned away and hid their eyes.  “Brothers, were you not pleased at her beauty?”  Nonnus insisted that her appearance had delighted him, but still, he wept for her. He was saddened that she was being used for lust, rather than revealing the image and likeness of God.  When Pelagia saw how the bishop looked at her she was caught of guard.  No man had ever looked at her with such purity.  She later pointed to that simply act of purity as the beginning of her conversion to Christ.  She is now a recognized saint in the church.

Sometimes we are called to simply avoid temptation.  Sometimes we know ourselves well enough that we need to put limits and controls on our behavior to keep from falling.  But each of us also has the third choice.  To seek out and fill ourselves up with what we are longing for in the first place.  The truly beautiful and good.  The genuine article.  No imitations.  And when we successfully do that, the battle’s victory shall be ours.