The Last Temptation

The risk of staying bound to an old story while the future unfolds

As a society, we have found ourselves at this incredible moment in history, an unexpected event horizon where we have a unique opportunity to either stay in the story that we know as it unravels or step into a new story we can weave together.

You’re not leaping into the unknown, you’re immersing in the unremembered, activating the forgotten parts of who you are, in service of the future you seek. ~ Ruth Glendinning

While we watch the world we’ve known deconstruct, I’m holding the process in a framework that I have shorthanded as ‘The Last Temptation’, inspired by the philosophical question raised by Nikos Kazantzakis’ historical novel The Last Temptation of Christ first published in 1955.

The central thesis of the book is that Jesus, while free from sin, was still subject to fear, doubt, depression and reluctance. Kazantzakis argues in the novel’s preface that by facing and conquering all of man’s weaknesses, Jesus struggled to do God’s Will without ever giving in to the temptations of the flesh. The novel advances the argument that, had Jesus succumbed to any such temptation, especially the opportunity to save himself from the cross, his life would have held no more significance than that of any other philosopher.

Taking the First Step

So, here we are — both individually and collectively — at our ideological ‘last temptation’ and we know at a soul level that staying stuck is not a healthy choice…