The Ultimate Itch

            Temptation is the ultimate itch. Think about it. It’s there, harassing you. You just… You just gotta get it. Ahh there. Got it. But now look: You’ve got red, irritated scratch marks and it’s going to burn for a bit. At least it’s not itching though. Not too much later, there that itch is yet again. Incessant. Annoying. Yet somehow appealing, inviting. It feels absolutely impossible to ignore it. If you don’t appease it, it won’t go away. You might as well give in.

            But wait. It is possible to ignore the itch, but it’s so difficult. It takes a lot of willpower, and that’s a fact. Sometimes the itch comes at the most inconvenient time or place, and you have no choice but to ignore it. There are times when the urge to scratch is overwhelmingly strong and the itch is so awful you just want to scream in frustration.

            Now connect the dots back to temptation. We often scratch when we don’t want to and know we shouldn’t. It’s just like what Romans 7 says. “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do…For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it” (verses 15, 19-20). This is the irritating temptation to scratch that seems impossible to overlook. However, God does promise us an escape. “God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). When you are tempted and you feel like the only thing to do is to satisfy it, remember this: God will relieve you of your struggle if you ask for help. It seems a lot easier said than done, but the more you learn to avoid “scratching” those tempting itches, the more you build self-control and dependence on God.  

Star-Gazing In Vegas

       I must say the most unexpected joy of the trip was star-gazing in Vegas. Every night, I would quickly check the sky for stars and be disappointed by the lack of stars. I love to gaze at stars, and here I was in Vegas and not able to see any because of all the city lights.
       On the last night of our trip, I was outside writing in a journal when I paused and looked at the night sky for the last time. There, I saw a few twinkling stars.
       My grandma stepped out of the RV and looked up. She has been teaching herself all sorts of astronomy, and passing her knowledge onto me. She has taught me what zenith meant (the highest point in the sky) and where to find Orion and Polaris and many other stars. We've spent nights in Tahoe, at the beach, and even at home looking up to the sky and pointing at various speckles of sparkles in the dark sky.
       That last night we stood together once more. It was unusual-- I thought-- to see so many stars in Vegas. Maybe they've shown every night and I just never noticed. Perhaps I just assumed they wouldn't shine, so I didn't look hard enough. Nevertheless, there those gorgeous stars were, shining as brilliant as they ever could.
       I think I'm the same way with other things in life: I assume they are one way so I don't even bother to check. There are times when this doesn't even apply to physical or tangible things (like stars). Truth-- the always just-out-of-reach snippet of fact. People take things for truth at the blink of an eye, whether it's their own opinion or what someone else told them.
       It's the same way with sin. Think about this: Satan is referred to as the Angel of Light. Why? My guess is because he disguises himself as a magnificent, light "angel," attracting people to him because they assume "light=good." Yes, light is mostly good, unless it is blinding us from reality. Vegas seems to be an angel of light in a way. The glowing, flashing lights leading people in, then snatching them into a wrong lifestyle.
       Yet even through all the light pollution of the city, I could still see stars. It was as if God was finding a way to be seen through the glare of the glitz and glam of a sinful city. And isn't that true always? He always finds a way to shine through, even in the midst of the distractions of the glaring, blinding, destructive light of sin.

Las Vegas

I just came back from a trip to Las Vegas, Nevada today. While on the trip, I continued to write and now I can finally post what I wrote...

       I learned I was going to Vegas about a month ago. To say I was unhappy would be the biggest understatement-- I was mad. Since who knows how long, I have hated Vegas. I tried to be optimistic about the trip, I really tried, but it was an uphill battle. When I packed, I focused on the fact that vacation was vacation, no matter where it was. But that's no consolation considering I was expecting a trip to Lake Tahoe. Instead, I was headed off to Las Vegas-- the hot, sticky, over-populated Sin City.

       On the first night of our trip, I asked my grandparents if we could drive down the strip-- I wanted to see the lights I remembered from my trip there years ago. My grandparents, cousin, sister, and I piled into the car and drove away from the RV resort we were staying at and began our drive down the Strip. It was a lot less impressive than I remembered. Maybe it's the fact that I've grown up and the buildings aren't as big to me. There were still zillions of dazzling lights-- like I remembered-- but they weren't as amazing for some reason. It was almost overwhelming-- there was so much to look at-- yet underwhelming. I had been expecting to be blown away by the lights and buildings, but there was something nagging me at the back of my mind.

       When I was little, it was easy to be impressed at the spectacle of the Strip. But now, at seventeen years old, I saw more... the darker side of the city full of lights, Sin City. It's as if my eyes were opened to a new aspect of the city.
       I saw advertisements for call girls posted on the enormous billboards. Inappropriate magazines sold shamelessly on the streets. Ads for recreational hypnotists. Ads for alcohol of all kinds. Excessive gambling. Girls walking down the Strip in bikini tops and flirting with strange men. People staggering while clutching their bottles of booze. Billboards lined the highways, boasting of topless bars and all sorts of debauchery. Maybe I'm just naive, but I never expected to see nearly nude women on the largest billboards in the city. Then again, I should have expected something like that because it is, after all, Sin City.

       As we drove down the Strip, I prayed. Most of the time, I couldn't find the words to pray. As strange as it sounds, I felt my spirit aching and crying for the lost people of Vegas. I constantly felt like I was trying to speak telepathically to passersby: Put down your beer bottle and walk straight... Girls, respect yourselves... I just wanted so desperately to see an end to what went on in the night.

       We got back to the RV after our drive and I couldn't sleep; I felt sick to my stomach. Thoughts milled through my mind... How did Vegas become the mecca for pilgrims of perversion? What is it about Vegas that allows people to lose any sense of good judgment or morals?
       The answer: Safety in numbers. In Vegas, you can act like a chameleon, and blend into the background. No one will notice you if you do something everyone else is doing. There's no shame in Vegas because no one notices you. No one is going to point out the speck in someone's eye because everyone else has a plank in their own.
      There's something fascinating (and disturbing) about this "mob mentality" or, as some call it, the "majority opinion" (which sounds a bit nicer, don't you agree?). In his book The Martian Chronicles, Ray Bradbury brings to light some important thoughts and questions regarding the majority :

“I hate this feeling of thinking I’m doing right when I’m not really certain I am. Who are we, anyway? The majority? Is that the answer? The majority is always holy, is it not? Always, always; just never wrong for one little insignificant tiny moment, is it? ...What is this majority and who are in it? And what do they think and how did they get that way and will they ever change…? I don’t feel comfortable [as a part of the majority]. Is it claustrophobia, fear of crowds, or common sense? Can one man be right, while all the world thinks they are right?”

       What if the mob mentality wasn't negative? Why can't the "minority" step forward and prove the majority wrong for the sake of morality? Again, Bradbury captures the essence of this issue:

“[T]here was always a minority afraid of something, and a great majority afraid of the dark, afraid of the future, afraid of the past, afraid of the present, afraid of themselves and shadows of themselves.”

       My question, now, is this: What is the minority afraid of? In Las Vegas, the minority is the people who know that any sin is a sin against God and shouldn't be taken lightly. What could the reason for not confronting the problem? Is it intimidation? If that's the problem, the "minority" should realize: God is on their side. Why should they be afraid?

Romans 8:31 "If God is for us, no one can defeat us."

Ice Cream

      One of the most well-loved desserts of all time is ice cream. The hardest thing to do, however, is to judge just how much you love it. Whenever you go to an ice cream store (or to the freezer) in order to get yourself some ice cream, it can be difficult to determine the amount you should get. It always seems appealing to get the most ice cream possible, but it's rarely possible to eat it all.
      If you have ever made your own sundae, you know that the temptation to heap on the good stuff is irresistible. For one, think of all that ice cream! It looks good, sounds appetizing, and from past experiences, you know it tastes delightful, so why not get a lot of it? You can never have too much! Then comes the whipped cream. It's called a topping, but it could be a dessert in and of itself. There is no one in America who has not just eaten whipped cream out of the can or ate a bowlful of whipped cream by itself. When putting it on ice cream, the urge to bury the ice cream under inches of whipped cream is uncontrollable. The last couple steps involve splurging in chocolate syrup, caramel, and--of course--the cherry on top. Chocolate is another topping that can cause uncontrollable indulgence.
      We live in a world of instant gratification, and making an ice cream sundae takes too much time to make! Naturally, you sneak tastes of the toppings as you make it. After you are finally done preparing your masterpiece dessert, you begin to devour it expeditiously. About halfway through it, you start to slow down. You ignore your stomach and listen to your taste buds (that sweet tooth still isn't satisfied, but your stomach is starting to get mad). By the time your stomach feels like it is going to burst, your bowl still has a lot of ice cream in it. You realize you have over-indulged, and you have the upset stomach to prove it.
      Sin is very similar to ice cream in this sense. It seems so appealing and draws you to it. Then, after it hooks you and after you indulge in it, you suffer the consequence. Yet, you still return to it time after time to continue the cycle of over-indulgence and negative repercussions.
      A lot of people try diet and exercise regiments to kick bad health habits (like splurging on ice cream). And many times, they fail because the temptation to overeat is too great. How amazing it is we don't have to worry about our temptation being too great for us to handle! 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 says "So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it."