How To Catch A Monkey In The Jungle

If you want to catch a monkey in the jungle, drill a hole in a coconut and put food inside it. The hole must be large enough for the monkey to get his hand in, but small enough that he cannot get it out once he grabs the food.

Chain the coconut to a tree. Once the monkey grabs the food, he is stuck. Refusing to let the food go, he is in bondage to the coconut. Now all you have to do is come and collect the monkeys who, by their own choice are bound.

This parable is for all of us who grab things and can’t let go: food, work, alcohol, drugs, sex, pornography, television, religion, money, and tobacco among others. The many types of addiction often are destructive and rooted in other personal issues. Frederick Buechner defines lust as “the craving for salt of a man dying of thirst.”

Most of us can connect with Paul when he confesses, For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.” Addiction may be defined as “easy to grab, hard to let go.”