Struggles and more struggles

We all see evil and its effects, especially on people. It is ugly. It causes us to struggle.
But, isn't it interesting that a lot of people are evil because of various struggles.
Struggle, struggle, and more struggle....

From song 'I Look To You' by Whitney Houston:

Winter storms have come
And darkened my sun
After all that I've been through
Who on earth can I turn to

I look to you
I look to you
After all my strength is gone
In you I can be strong

...
My levees are broken
My walls coming down on me....

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Pze_mdbOK8&list=PLmYXTlZN4bBLiYNV-KrhlU0dV3NS6jpHQ&index=17)

Ambition

In life, men are always striving - striving for a better job with higher income, striving for excellence, and so on. We are on a quest for great achievement and happiness. Everyone wants to be somebody.

A lot of people are driven to do evil to achieve much. Maybe we are born evil beings - evil tendencies "kick in" at the right time. It is a struggle to be good (rather than evil), to always make wise choices, to resist temptation, and so on. Keep up the fight!

Songs that remind us we can easily be greedy and evil.....

I Want It All
"I want it all, the fame and the fortune and more....."

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5xxSRvl5VM&index=3&list=PLmYXTlZN4bBLiYNV-KrhlU0dV3NS6jpHQ)


I'm Bad By Michael Jackson
"You know I'm bad, I'm bad, you know it...."

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sd4SJVsTulc&list=PLmYXTlZN4bBLiYNV-KrhlU0dV3NS6jpHQ&index=5)

MainMessageForToday
Stories, fables, words of wisdom warn us to be contented with what we have because chasing riches/money or going after that something that is better can lead us to temptation, lead us to make horrible choices, lead us down the wrong path, and lead us to destruction.  

From the song 'Who the Cap Fit' by Bob Marley:

Man to man is so unjust, children,
You don't know who to trust,
Your worst enemy could be your best friend,
And your best friend your worst enemy.

Some will eat and drink with you,
Then behind them su-su 'pon you,
Only your friend know your secrets,
So only he could reveal it.

Some will hate you, pretend they love you now,
Then behind they try to eliminate you,
But who Jah bless, no one curse,
Thank God we're past the worse.

Hypocrites and parasites,
Will come up and take a bite,
And if your night should turn to day,
A lot of people would run away.

Who the cap fit, let them wear it,
Who the cap fit, let them wear it,
Said I throw me corn, me no call no fowl...
(translation: I put it out there, I did not call/label anyone)
I saying, 'Cluuk-cluuk-cluuk, cluck-cluck-cluck'

https://youtu.be/zOMMWeExwh4

"It is hard work to control the workings of inclination and turn the bent of nature; but that it may be done, I know from experience. God has given us, in a measure, the power to make our own fate: and when our energies seem to demand a sustenance they cannot get--when our will strains after a path we may not follow--we need neither starve from inanition, not stand still in despair: we have but to seek another nourishment for the mind, as strong as the forbidden fruit it longed to taste--and perhaps purer; and to hew out for the adventurous foot a road as direct and broad as the one Fortune has blocked up against us, if rougher than it."
- Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre 

"I would rather be a little nobody, then to be a evil somebody."
- Abraham Lincoln

MainMessageForToday
Ambition affects people differently. Those with good character are not likely to yield to the evil inclinations of ambition.

From the song 'For the Love of Money' by The O'Jays
(The song's title comes from a well-known Bible verse, 1 Timothy 6:10: "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows" (King James Version).)

I know that money is the root of all evil,
Do funny things to some people.
Give me a nickel, brother can you spare a dime,
Money can drive some people out of their minds.
For the love of money,
No good, no good, no good,
For the love of money,
Don't sell ya soul for the money - no, no

http://youtu.be/GXE_n2q08Yw

"It is the constant fault and inseparable evil quality of ambition, that it never looks behind it."
- Seneca

"Pleasure is the greatest incentive to evil."
- Plato

“The greatest temptations are not those that solicit our consent to obvious sin, but those that offer us great evils masking as the greatest goods.”
― Thomas Merton, No Man Is an Island 

What would you do in this situation....

From the song 'Before He Cheats' by Carrie Underwood:

Right now he's probably slow dancing with a bleached-blonde tramp
and she's probably getting frisky,
Right now, he's probably buying her some fruity little drink
'cause she can't shoot whiskey,
Right now, he's probably up behind her with a pool stick
showing her how to shoot a combo,

And he don't know...

That I dug my key into the side
of his pretty little souped up 4 wheel drive,
carved my name into his leather seats...
I took a Louisville slugger to both headlights,
slashed a hole in all 4 tires...
Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats.

Right now, she's probably up singing some
white-trash version of Shania karaoke,
Right now, she's probably saying, "I'm drunk"
and he's a-thinking that he's gonna get lucky,
Right now, he's probably dabbing on
3 dollars worth of that bathroom Polo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaSy8yy-mr8

"Those who forget good and evil and seek only to know the facts are more likely to achieve good than those who view the world through the distorting medium of their own desires."
- Bertrand Russell

"There is no evil that does not offer inducements. Avarice promises money; luxury, a varied assortment of pleasure; ambition, a purple robe and applause. Vices tempt you by the rewards which they offer."
- Seneca

"What happens when good people are put into an evil place? Do they triumph or does the situation dominate their past history and morality?"
- Philip Zimbardo

"I like to see the difference between good and evil as kind of like the foul line at a baseball game. It's very thin, it's made of something very flimsy like lime, and if you cross it, it really starts to blur where fair becomes foul and foul becomes fair."
- Harlan Coben

Some acts are clearly intentional, some maybe mistakes......

"I have been primarily interested in how and why ordinary people do unusual things, things that seem alien to their natures. Why do good people sometimes act evil? Why do smart people sometimes do dumb or irrational things?"
- Philip Zimbardo

MainMessageForToday
Lots of people cross over to the evil side because of temptation.

"For most people, the question why be good - as distinguished from merely law abiding - is a simple one. Because God commands it, because the Bible requires it, because good people go to Heaven and bad people go to Hell."
- Alan Dershowitz

"Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it."
- The Holy Bible (ESV), Psalm 34:13-14

"When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it--always."
- Mahatma Gandhi