The Wonderful Tar Baby

Something I was reading this morning (Letters of Elder Macarius) caused me to think back over my life. This usually results in a little saltier oatmeal than I care for, but no sooner had a few tears started to leak out of my stony heart when the Uncle Remus story of the Wonderful Tar Baby came to mind.
"Huh?", I thought to myself. "I haven't thought about this story since I was a kid."
But the more I thought about it, the more sense it made. Try as I might over the years, my attempts to free myself of various passions, using passion itself as my "method" has resulted in a sticky mess with "Brer Fox" taunting me. It gave the story a whole lot more relevance to my life and also reminded me of another story.

I saw the snares that the enemy spreads out over the world and I said groaning, "What can get one through such snares?" Then I heard a voice saying to me, "Humility."

St. Anthony the Great