Adultery.
We judge and sneer at those who indulge in it, but we haven’t been there…at least those of us who aren’t married. I watched (well, not the whole of it but nearly half of) a movie called Derailed starring Jennifer Aniston and Clive Owen and I saw the reality of cheating. It’s so easy to look elsewhere when home is no longer a peaceful place to be and your spouse no longer the angel you married. People have problems….sick children who drain every ounce of energy from their parents making it nearly impossible for them to have any alone time together causing their marriage to suffer. Or when one spouse is always away working. Or for whatever reason because marriage is hard work.
So you meet someone, a chance meeting even. You click, he/she gets you. She/he likes the annoying music your spouse doesn’t like. He/she gets your sense of humour that your spouse has never appreciated. He/she is a breath of fresh air; a haven amidst all the drama in your life and family.
So, as a human being, what do you do?
You pursue happiness. You want more than you can have.
And so you keep meeting this “breath-of-fresh-air” more and more. You “work late” more and more. And the guilt increases but you’re in deep.
And the rest as we know is history.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not advocating for cheating. I get stark raving mad when I even hear a boyfriend cheated on his girlfriend, so leave alone a spouse.
I’m just saying it can happen to any and the best of us. We are just weak and human like that. Forbidden fruit tastes sweetest.
But using the example of Adam and Eve and the forbidden fruit, what did God say to them? He told them there was a tree in the centre of the Garden of Eden and not to eat from it. He did not point at it and say “see that lovely tree over there? The one with the enticing, succulent fruit? Those fruits that look so deliciously mouth-watering? Don’t eat those.”
No.
I’m guessing they had never even seen the tree.
He just warned them not to eat from it.
So, I’m thinking, don’t go there. If it’s drama at home, get away…alone, if you must. Don’t look around for better because, if all the stories I’ve heard and all the couples I have seen are anything to go by, adultery is never worth it.
It may be delicious at first, an adventure with all the thrill of not-getting-caught, but soon the truth all comes out and you ruin everyone’s life involved forever.
And the forbidden fruit does taste sweetest, but no one mentions the bitter aftertaste left in your mouth.