Be Aware of Your Idol - Don't Fall under its Spell, and Don't Fight it Either

Seek not outside yourself. For it will fail, and you will weep each time an idol falls.
(A Course in Miracles)

When Moses returned with the 10 Commandments after a 40 day retreat on Mount Sinai, his people had lost faith and built an idol - a golden calf - and were busily engaging in some pagen festival in celebration of life and fertility. Moses was so distraught by what he saw that he shattered the stone tablets with the 10 Commandment on the floor; he also had 3000 Israelis executed as punishment.

What an irony that the First Commandment states "Thou shall have no idols before Me" and the first thing Moses' people did was to worship an idol of power and fertility. Your idol can be everywhere, money, looks, fame, degrees, professions, important friends or colleagues, sex, etc. I am sure you know who or what your personal idol is. The trick is to be aware of its charm and to be able to feel the dark energy it bestows on you. It is as if a cloud hangs over you whenever it touches you.  If you fight it, you are not getting rid of its influence, you are just re-distributing the dark cloud to your perceived holy part. Just recognize the idol for what it stands for, acknowledge its appeal and then choose to step out of its dark shadow into the sun.

Moses didn't help his divine cause by killing his brothers and sisters. He also didn't help our spiritual journey by making a taboo out of idol worship. What you fear and detest, you only attract. The only way to deal with an idol is to understand that you can do much better by keeping its sphere of influence at arms' length. Moses did what he was capable of 5000 years ago, but we have come a long way since. Today it is very much in our power to move past the idol's spell without condemning it and without being afraid of it either.