| Thursday, March 16, 2006 |
| IMPULSE |
I read a simple short story today. It was entitled, Impulse, by Conrad Aiken, about a young husband and father who ends up in jail and loses everything by acting on an impulse. Keep in mind that the story was written in the 1920's: after a night of drinking and playing bridge (bridge?!!) with some buddies from work, where they tossed around fantasies about acting out whatever random impulses they might have, Michael Lowes decided to carry through with the idea once he left the party. He entered a drugstore, "cased the joint," and pilfered a deluxe safety razor set in a snakeskin box, slipping it into his coat pocket. He was immediately caught and arrested by the store detective and things progressed rapidly until his wife left him and he was sentenced to three months in jail, his reputation, nay his very life, ruined. The end.
Mulling the story over in my mind for a while, I tried to decide what I felt about this guy- compassion? Contempt? Indifference?
I still haven't decided. Even though he had the impulse, he didn't have to act on it. Most people usually have pretty good control over impulses. If they didn't, wouldn't chaos be the norm? Wouldn't we be ruled by anarchy?
James 1:14-15 says, "but each one is tempted when each one, by his own evil desires, is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." (NIV)
It seems there's a process involved in acting on the sort of impulse defined by Aiken-
1. the impulse (enticement)
2. the entertainment of the enticement in his mind (temptation)
3. the urge to carry out the temptation (desire)
4. the planning out of the desire to fruition (birth of sin)
5. the actual execution of the deed (sin)
6. and for the unsaved man, sin leads to death.
I like Paul's solution to the whole predicament, especially as it's written in The Message:
"We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:5
Michael Lowes needed some powerful God-tools! I would've enjoyed the story more if he'd descended to his depths and then found redemption. Like Jean Valjean. Now theeeere's a story! |
| posted by Joye @ 12:05 AM |
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| 4 Comments: |
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You are quite a writer, Joye. Such great insights! You would be a fun gal to be in a book club with (bad sentence ending in a preposition - sorry). I like that Corinthians verse from the Message. Man, we could all use some good God-tools!
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We live in a society that promotes poor impulse control.
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Ain't it the truth, Rose.
Thanks, schweers' mom, yours isn't too shabby, ya know. I've always loved the idea of a book club, but only if I get to pick out the books!!!!
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EXCELLENT! Well written.