Envy

"Envy"
Mixed media, wood, metal, plastic, shells, lead, gunpowder, 2012

A DIVINE IMAGE

BY WILLIAM BLAKE

Cruelty has a Human Heart

And Jealousy a Human Face 

Terror the Human Form Divine 

And Secrecy, the Human Dress 

The Human Dress, is forged Iron 

The Human Form, a fiery Forge. 

The Human Face, a Furnace seal'd 

The Human Heart, its hungry Gorge.

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We aspire to be kind and good people, but for all of us, this is a very hard balance to maintain.  Envy and jealousy were never really character issues I was prone to, at least if listing the Seven Deadlies.   Anger, yes.  Sloth, sometimes.  Gluttony, for sure.  Pride, most certainly.  Greed, on occasion.  Lust, well, absolutely.  But Envy?  This I never thought I was guilty of.  I didn't think I was a "jealous" type, and certainly was never possessive of the people in my life, quite the opposite.  I was a very big proponent of the old adage"If you love me set me free" sentiment, so how did jealousy fit into the scheme of things?  I wasn't covetous of other people, their things, their positions, their lives...so, I thought, I guess I am not guilty of envy?  But, after examining some lingering resentments I still had stored away in the baggage compartment of my own personal "closet," I realized I was also guilty of that sin as well.  Somewhere along the road of life during my journey, there were occasions in my life that I felt I was "shortchanged" during certain periods and under certain circumstances, and I had felt bitterness over that.  Maybe not now, but then I did, so even though I thought, "Aha!  A sin I am not guilty of!" I actually had to own up to this one too.  After all, I am only human as well.