The Easier Way, the Tougher Way

Once there was a lark singing in the forest. A man came by with a box full of worms. The lark stopped him and asked, ‘What do you have in the box and where are you going?” The farmer replied that the box contained worms and that he was going to the market to trade them for some feathers. The lark said, ‘I have many feathers. I will pluck one and give it to you in exchange for worms. That will save me looking for food.’ The farmer gave the worms to the lark and the lark plucked a feather and gave it in return. The next day the same thing happened, and the day after, and on and on until a day came when the lark had no more feathers. Now the lark couldn’t fly and hunt for worms. It looked ugly and didn’t have even the strength to sing. A fox came by and devoured the lark.

Temptation is a fact of life. It is everywhere. Nobody is really strong in the face of temptation. We know the first humans failed the test. Like the monkey and flies we are lured by the scent of the sweet. It whispers to us, “It’s ok, don’t worry!” “Try it just once. It’s not that bad anyway.” “Come on, everybody is doing it.” “Nobody will now.” Temptation is tasty because it is always sugar-coated with a promise of pleasure. But we must be careful and vigilant to check where it is leading us, lest we suffer what happened to the bird in the story.

Quote: “Every conquering temptation represents a new fund of moral energy. Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before.” – William Butler Yeats