Disney Memories
So I have this weird thing about me. Rather one of the weird things about me is that I remember lines from movies. Movies I watched a million years ago. So yesterday as I was walking out of the gym a line from 101 Dalmatians (the one with actual people) popped into my head.
Roger is a video game maker. He is testing out his game on the "it" kid, the master of all video games. The kid is not impressed, so in trying to see what he could do to make it better..
Roger: What if the villain was more evil, someone you could really hate?
Kid: Its not hatred that's important. Its the desire to annihilate.
This last line was the one that inexplicably popped into my head last night. Now imagine it in an English accent. Its not hatred that's important, its the desire to annihilate.
Now I am obviously not condoning violent behavior. But I was just thinking if this is true and how it applies. Is it enough to hate the Yetzer Hara? Is it enough to loathe a laissez-faire attitude? Or must we feel a need to destroy, annihilate and expunge from the face of the Earth?
I believe that most of us are not exactly comfortable with the power the Yetzer Hara yields over us. Or do we? Have we just accepted that he is part of our lives? Just a matter of course? Since Adam ate from the tree on that fateful day, the yetzer hara went from being an external force to be reckoned with to a voice inside our heads. Our lives are no longer black and white, we live in shades of grey.
It is precisely because of this that I think we are loath to hate and even want to annihilate the evil inclination, for he is a part of us. Wanting to destroy him would mean in a sense wanting to destroy ourselves and that goes against every survival instinct we have.
Yes, when we speak abstractly about "the Yetzer Hara" it is easy to condemn him and his ways. Objectively, its easy to abhor his plans and his plots. Yet, when it comes to ourselves..do we have the hatred? and is the hatred enough or is the desire to annihilate that's important?
Roger is a video game maker. He is testing out his game on the "it" kid, the master of all video games. The kid is not impressed, so in trying to see what he could do to make it better..
Roger: What if the villain was more evil, someone you could really hate?
Kid: Its not hatred that's important. Its the desire to annihilate.
This last line was the one that inexplicably popped into my head last night. Now imagine it in an English accent. Its not hatred that's important, its the desire to annihilate.
Now I am obviously not condoning violent behavior. But I was just thinking if this is true and how it applies. Is it enough to hate the Yetzer Hara? Is it enough to loathe a laissez-faire attitude? Or must we feel a need to destroy, annihilate and expunge from the face of the Earth?
I believe that most of us are not exactly comfortable with the power the Yetzer Hara yields over us. Or do we? Have we just accepted that he is part of our lives? Just a matter of course? Since Adam ate from the tree on that fateful day, the yetzer hara went from being an external force to be reckoned with to a voice inside our heads. Our lives are no longer black and white, we live in shades of grey.
It is precisely because of this that I think we are loath to hate and even want to annihilate the evil inclination, for he is a part of us. Wanting to destroy him would mean in a sense wanting to destroy ourselves and that goes against every survival instinct we have.
Yes, when we speak abstractly about "the Yetzer Hara" it is easy to condemn him and his ways. Objectively, its easy to abhor his plans and his plots. Yet, when it comes to ourselves..do we have the hatred? and is the hatred enough or is the desire to annihilate that's important?
if we are able to even want to annihilate the yetser hara, thats already a sign of grandeur
ReplyDeletedefinitely! even wanting to want to change is a level..we need to take the fight against the yetzer hara day by day.
ReplyDeleteWow. I love the way you took that line and really thought about what it means. You are so right. We need to want to get rid of the evil inside of us...it's called working on our middos. Cuz that's already a step in the right direction!
ReplyDelete