He talks about the old woman who seems to be asking so little, but is actually asking alot. And he calls it gluttony of delicacy, but I think it's a little bit of a stretch to call it gluttony. Every definition I read makes out gluttony to be an overindulgence in food. All of the definitions point to it meaning "eating too much." Of course, Lewis is pointing at a real sin. But is it gluttony?
I would suggest that it isn't, and the only reason it is connected to gluttony is because is it regarding food. My apologies to Mr. Lewis if I'm wrong.
But I think that the sin this points to is selfishness. The old woman in the story is not thinking of anyone else. She's only thinking of what she wants, how she wants it... and she'll trample on anyone's feelings to get it.
My personal feeling is that selfishness is the root of all sins. Now, it's possible that selfishness is merely the root of all of MY sins. And that there are sins that don't entrap me which have nothing to do with selfishness. But when I'm tempted to be lazy, it's because I'm being selfish. When I'm tempted to gluttony, I'm being selfish. If lust tries to get my attention (which it too easily does), I am being selfish. When I don't express love for my family, or my friends, or others who need love but whom I ignore... I'm being selfish. I'm pretty sure all of my sins boil down to selfishness.
What do you think? Can you think of sins that have nothing to do with being selfish? Conversely, can you think of sins that come from selflessness? Please leave your answers in the comments on Facebook, since it's very difficult to reply to them here on Blogger. I want to know what you think!
God, thank You for teaching us about the heart of our sinfulness... please help us to love, which takes away our sins.
1 comment:
Selfishness is the root of all of the sins in as much as we take our eyes off of the creator and put it on the creation and "we" think we can't live without it being ours....selfishness.
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