The Onion Effect

How many of us, when slicing an onion would suddenly stop midway and throw it away, saying "it is making me to shed tears so I threw it away"?

Would the onion become "bad" because you are crying? Would you stop and throw it away?

But you would continue slicing. The sting does not let up or get better yet you continue. The tears come flowing but you still continue. Now your nose is running but you use your apron to wipe your nose and still...you continue slicing.

You encourage yourself by saying "next time I will slice it differently so that it won't sting my eyes". But you don't stop slicing, you don't stop chopping, you make sure you get to the end of it.

At the end you are sniffing and wiping the tears but you are not angry at the onion. You might even transfer what ever aggression you have to the nearest human that needles you or gets on your nerve which is already touchy and you quickly snap at the person but you don't even think about the onion.

It made your eyes sting.
It made you cry.
It made your nose to run.
It put you in a position of discomfort.

By the next meal, you will still pick up another onion and start the journey all over again, with everything repeating itself.

Now what if it was a human being you were interacting with?

Spouse?
Friend?
Acquaintance?
Sibling?
Grown up kids?

At some point do you know what might likely happen? Yes; you will throw that relationship away.

Every "expert" will tell you to throw that relationship away.
Every natural law will tell you to throw that relationship away.
Every thing in you will tell you to throw that relationship away.

The "temptation" would then be "should I or should I not throw this relationship away?"

Throwing away never crossed your mind when it came to the onion maybe because somewhere deep down our subconscious, we just "know" that onions would make us cry. So we think about the flavor and what it adds to what is being prepared rather than the experience of getting there or making it into that meal.

We are all natural born hypocrites.

With the onions our thoughts are on the end product. We recognize and know the pain and the discomfort and the tears and ugliness with mucus dripping from the nose and the red face and even irritation at anything that moves aside from the onion. We recognize it BEFORE we interact with the onion but we go right on. We go ahead with that interaction with all the tears, irritation, ugliness and what have you.

We are all natural born hypocrites.

At the end, the fragrance that comes off the steam that escapes from the encased pot soothes your senses. Your belly (that did not complain when you were in the heat of that interaction) just knows it is going to get the flavor it has been dying for once the first spoonful gets into the receptor and goes down the funnel to finds its natural berth in it. You are happy just with the aroma alone; imagine how you will feel with the tasting?

We are all natural born hypocrites. Selah.

"Love forgiveth all things"
And we go "Yeah; right".

"Carry each other's burden"
But we go "Are you serious"?

Then there are those who believe that they too are wise. So with the first, their response will be "forgive your spouse everything except...unfaithfulness". And for the second, they will go "for each man must bear his own burden".

All these do not apply to the onion of course. Our minds are fixed on what the onion will add so what it is taking from us is something we bear and put up with. The onion showcases our natural disposition to hypocrisy and it points the way for those who want to learn one thing or the other. Selah.
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