Then I heard another voice from heaven say: "‘Come out of her, my people,’ so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues.” – Revelation 18:4

Today's Scripture Reading (June 14, 2021): Revelation 18

“Adam was but human—this explains it all. He did not want the apple for the apple's sake; he wanted it only because it was forbidden. The mistake was in not forbidding the serpent; then he would have eaten the serpent.” Mark Twain makes some sense. We do seem to love what is forbidden. St Augustine makes the same observation in his “Confessions” as he relates his famous “Pears Incident.”

“Near our vineyard there was a pear tree laden with fruit that was not attractive in either flavor or form. One night, when I [at the age of sixteen] had played until dark on the sandlot with some other juvenile delinquents, we went to shake that tree and carry off its fruit. From it we carried off huge loads, not to feast on, but to throw to the pigs, although we did eat a few ourselves. We did it just because it was forbidden” (St. Augustine, Confessions Book II).

I have always loved the story of St Augustine’s pears. It connects so well with life as we know it, and even as Twain seemed to understand it. Augustine seemed to agree. Our love for the forbidden is part of our essential character. But it is also a story of our youth. And that was also something that Augustine understood. But that night that he and his friends shook the pears off of the tree to throw away to the pigs haunted him for the rest of his life.

But Augustine also understood that the episode that night with the pears was a choice, one that Augustine regretted and wished that he had never made. Augustine did not have to steal the pairs. He could have “come out” from among his friends and not shared in the sin of the other “juvenile delinquents.” And as he grew older, it was increasingly a decision that he regretted.

We love what is forbidden, but we do not have to give in to our desire. We can decide to “come out.” It is what mature people do every day and part of what it means to be an adult. We don’t have to follow the crowd; we can “come out” so that we don’t share in the sins of others. It is a hard thing to do, but as adults, we are to focus not on our desires but instead on what is good for us in the long run and what it is that God wants for us and from us. And the call is still going out from heaven, “come out” and choose a better path, and not just what it might be that you desire or what is forbidden. Because while we might want what is forbidden, the forbidden is also what will cause us regret as we grow older.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Revelation 19