This year’s theme for Wicked Manors, the Seven Deadly Sins, offered many options to write about this week. Unfortunately, in our world today one does not have to look far to find many who openly flaunt the sins of greed, lust, gluttony, sloth, wrath, envy and pride as if a badge of honor.
Our President alone is guilty of all seven and tweets daily of such sinful behavior.
However, who am I to judge the actions of others, being just a sinner myself. That, in itself, is viewed as sinful behavior. “Judge not, yet ye be judged.”
Here in our Island City we choose to celebrate All Hollow’s Eve each year with a night of merriment, fun, costume wearing, frolicking and perhaps indulging in a few of those seven sins. Afterwards, once we finish with all the debauchery and celebrations, perhaps we should spend some time contemplating the opposite side of these sinful behaviors, known as the contrary virtues.
As the world around us becomes more and more polarized each day, perhaps we all need a little practice in humility, charity, kindness, patience, chastity, temperance and diligence.
Now don’t get your knickers all twisted with the notions of chastity and temperance. I am not suggesting giving up happy hour or becoming celibate, so don’t delete that online dating app just yet.
The virtue of chastity can refer to the purity of one’s conduct and intentions, so one can be chaste by striving for better health through good personal hygiene and practicing safe sex.
Temperance is defined as moderation not abstinence, so go ahead and have that cocktail, but perhaps refrain from using too many of those drink tokens after you have had a few.
As for the other five virtues; humility, kindness, charity, patience and diligence, they should not be too hard to work into our daily routine. Well, humility might be a problem for some. Yes, you know who you are.
Getting back to the subject of sinful behavior, I cannot stop thinking about Joe Biden’s past support for credit card companies and banking interests after watching the new Meryl Streep movie, “The Laundromat.”
While serving as Senator from Delaware, Biden took very good care of monied interests who used Delaware as a tax haven and other lucrative reasons. Perhaps such a history might be the reason his campaign is failing to arouse strong grass roots support.
Democratic Party leadership might want to start listening to the working-class Americans they sold out with NAFTA, lucrative banking and usury laws, and by courting big business over union membership.
Middle-class dreams evaporated over the last twenty years while the wealth of just one percent ballooned to new heights. Younger Americans are demanding answers, but those answers are not going to come from Joe Biden.
Another sell-out being perpetuated is the notion of recycling and the continued use of single-use plastics. Some cities here in Broward County are making moves in the right direction by banning the use of plastic straws, but so much more needs to be done.
We need to look at all single-use plastics, like cups, take-out containers, grocery bags and individual water bottles if we are going to make any real difference in our environment. With all the kickback over something so miniscule as a plastic straw, the plastic industry has nothing to worry about anytime in the near future.
Another item we don’t need to worry about here in our Island City are those Spanish Fascist Blackshirts rumored to be bullying some members of our community at City Commission meetings.
Although a unified group of individuals wearing black shirts were present and vocal at our last city commission meeting, I was told by a reliable source that the choice of color had nothing to do with goose-stepping gestapo tactics, but rather for the slimming effects of black clothing.
The group was united in their support for the Urban Form Study recently submitted to the city. This study advocates increasing density in appropriate areas of our city, tiering height requirements, changes in parking requirements and many other recommendations to steer our city ahead to the future.
Enough rambling already, let me get busy carving my pumpkin so I can have that jack-o-lantern gleaming with candlelight by my front door. This way I will not have to worry about any evil spirits that might be roaming the neighborhood when I head out to enjoy the autumn festivities along Wilton Drive.
Merriment like Wicked Manors make life just better here.
