Do you know of the tale of the Pied Piper? The Pied Piper is a fairy tale about a village in Hamelin, Germany. There was a rat infestation in the village. To drive away the rats, they hired the Pied Piper to play his magical flute. But after successfully driving away the rats through his music, the villagers refused to pay the piper. This angered the piper and as a revenge; the piper entranced the children of the village through his music. Just like the rats, the children disappeared from the village forever.
When, lo! As they reached the mountain-side, A wondrous portal opened wide, As if a cavern was suddenly hollowed; And the Piper advanced and the children followed, And when all were in to the very last, the door in the mountain-side shut fast.
– Robert Browning, The Pied Piper of Hamelin
A Delusive Enticement
The story of the Pied Piper may be fictional but the lesson imparts by the story is something deeper. In fact, the word pied piper is now defined by the Merriam-Webster as “one that offers strong but delusive enticement”. Delusive means something misleading, deceptive, false or unreal. Enticement on the other hand is something that lures, tempts or attracts us.
There are many temptations in life. In the Bible, John the Evangelist in his Epistle classified them into three:
- Lust of Eyes (Materialism)
- Lust of the Body (Hedonism)
- Pride of Life (Egoism)
If we are not careful, just like the children, we might fall into the spell of the Pied Piper. Just like fishing, Someone who is fishing will use bait to lure the fish. The fishes then unknowingly take the bait and this will ultimately lead to their demise.
Learn When To Stop
What do we do then? Life will not be as exciting if we will indulge ourselves in some form of guilty pleasure. Well, it is okay to indulge in the little things as long as you don’t overdo it. Remember that too much of anything is bad. You can eat chocolates, sweets, fatty foods and junk foods once in a while but to make it as part of your daily diet is detrimental to your health. It is okay to splurge and reward yourself with some little things every now and then but to do it on a consistent basis despite the fact that it is ruining your budget can lead to unnecessary debt. Cellphones and the internet are invented for our convenience but to make your life revolve around will already affect your relationships with the people around you. The key is learn when to stop before it harms you.
The song Pied Piper by BTS said it all. The song gives a message to the Army, their fans, to become more self-aware about how much they indulge in BTS. It is okay to idolize them however, if it becomes too much to the point that it will affect their daily responsibilities in life, then fans need to learn to stop and control themselves.
Stop. Now stop watching and study for your test. Your parents and boss hate me. Video clips, pictures, tweets, V app, Bon Voyage. I know you can’t help what you like but stop. Interpret the music later. You have so many pictures of me in your room anyway. It’s not just one hour, but it’s a whole year that will disappear.
– RM of BTS, Pied Piper
Learn when to stop before it ruins your life.
Feature Photo by Jonathan Petersson from Pexels