Let Us Not Be Tempted...

We need Your help,
Eternal One,
to resist the temptation
to worship idols ...

they’re unavoidable;
attractive,
alluring,
adored by millions;

celebrated,
imitated,
immortalized,
perfected
      (in Photoshopped photographs);

raised up
on billboards,
unapproachable,
otherworldly beings

gazing down
with blissful smiles
of sepulcher-white teeth,
their botoxed brows untroubled
      (and unmoving);

devoutly worshipped
on HD-altars,
illuminating
darkened rooms;

illusions produced
with spandex and silicone,
camera angles
and careful lighting
      (utterly unreal).

Deliver us,
most merciful and holy God,
from blinking confusion,
blind envy, and mindless greed
      (and manufactured “need”);

open our eyes
to the ugly truth
lying
beneath their pretty promises,

to the fleeting satisfaction
of purposeless purchasing;
to the exorbitant cost
of selling our souls.

Teach us to see
what is genuinely beautiful,
to seek the good, love mercy
and walk humbly with You.

Amen.