Turkish Delight
I’ve been trying to support the library and have done so pretty successfully through the late fines I pay every time I visit. During our last trip, one of my children picked up C. S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I love that book and stating such was enough for her to put it right back on the shelf. I got it off again and flipped through the pages. I had forgotten about Edmund and the White Witch’s Enchanted Turkish Delight.
As a kid, I thought Edmund was a bad egg led further astray by his Turkish Delight fixation (which I still don’t get). Without Edmund, I those kids could have had a big time with Tumas and the gang in Narnia. Now I understand it wasn’t Edmund’s greediness or the Turkish Delight or even the White Witch that caused him to cause such trouble. It was his willingness to be distracted by those things.
My children weren’t the least bit interested in my analysis. So I took a different approach. “What’s your ‘Turkish Delight’?” My youngest replied he didn’t even know what “Turkey Lights” were. He said he likes soccer and Skittles. The middle one rolled her eyes. The eldest said, “Seriously?” (Those two older don’t do my ego a bit of good anymore.)
Even though my kids wouldn’t play along, each of them will wrangle with their own Turkish Delight or two. I know I do. There are times and contexts when I’m better at resisting those sources of distraction, but I’ve got them all the same. You likely do, too. Luckily, we have other stuff, too, like kindness, generosity, and the ability to discern what’s worthy of our attention, apart from the shiny things calling for it.
I’m going to try to look my Turkish Delights squarely in their distracting little faces. Then I’m going to remind myself they don’t lead me to stray from who I am and who I want to be. What gets me off my path is letting my desires and urges distract me from what’s real and good. I’m starting with the cheddar bunnies.
Resource & Reference
Recipe for Turkish Delight: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/95277/turkish-delight/