Seven Deadlies
We watched the movie "Seven" again recently. The sins covered are those of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. (Nope, they are not in the Bible; those are the Ten Commandments. Similar concept, but different. I had to check to make sure The Seven Deadlies aren't in there, and they are in fact not.)
So Chaucer's Damn Ya To Hell baddies are: gluttony, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and anger. I honestly think that at any given moment I'm guilty of at least 50% of those, especially pride, envy, anger, and lately lust. (That's 4 out of 7; I'm actually just squeezing out a pass on the Pure Evil Test with a 57% grade on any given day.) And since you can be gluttonous about anything, not just food, I figure I'm riddled and racked with that, too. Which gives me a solid passing C on the Pure Evil Test.
I'm mired most right now in Envy. Envy (oddly enough) has several definitions, but we'll go with this one to make my point:
| en·vy n.
|
(I like this definition because it mentions desire, which is a key component of Lust, another Deadly Sin that's a real pain.)
In the movie, the Bad Man played out his vision of Envy by coveting another man's wife. (Of note, "coveting" also appears on the Ten Commandments prohibitions list, a couple of times! You can't covet your neighbor's house. Oh, and you can't covet anything else of his, including his wife, his servants, etc. It's the only Seven Deadly that appears on both lists.)
Envy in my world right now is rooted in respect and admiration. It's a "Wow, I'd like to have that. I wish I could be that." (Somehow that's getting kinked up with another deadly sin, but we'll keep that other one separate for now and maybe muse on it later.) It's a strange mindset for me, because I rarely covet anyone or anything. I have been pretty satisfied with my life and its window dressings, at least in the last few years. I had to relocate to do that, but that's another musing. ;)
As deadly sins are wont to do, though, this envy has spread a bit to include envying other aspects and details, so it feels sort of like an infection. Can I get an envy inoculation?
The most striking and complex thing about this state of envy: the thing which is giving rise to the envy is something I that I actually belittle and criticize. Which means it shouldn't make any sense. For example, let's say I find X compelling because he/she is Cree Indian, but I disparage Cree Indians. That's a nonsensical attraction, because it shouldn't have any foundation or basis. My negative frame of reference about Cree Indians would reasonably prevent that attraction.
So this state of envy should not make any sense at all. Yet it makes the most peculiar and familiar sense to me.
I really do need that envy inoculation, like right now.
Notes:
The Ten Commandments, should you care to know more, appear in bibles at Exodus 20:3-17. The usual list goes: (I) I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt have no other gods before me. (II) Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. (III) Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. (IV) Honor thy father and thy mother. (V) Thou shalt not kill. (VI) Thou shalt not commit adultery. (VII) Thou shalt not steal. (VIII) Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. (IX) Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house. (X) Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's.