The Cheesecake Infomercial

The Cheesecake Infomercial lead us not into temptation!)

Gentle Presence, Living Insight in the Snack Aisle of the Soul

You know that moment: you open the fridge “just to look,” and a slice of cheesecake launches a late-night infomercial on why you deserve it. No shame, just charm: It’s been a tough day. You’ve earned this. One bite won’t matter. James would say the cheesecake isn’t the tempter; it’s the story we start plating up in our minds. That’s where temptation really cooks—on the inner stovetop, with outer sights and smells turning up the heat.

This week we’re exploring the line many of us pray by heart: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” In our Unitarian Universalist frame, evil isn’t a cartoon villain—it’s whatever harms: what violates conscience, frays relationships, shrinks our capacity to love. The line from the Lord’s Prayer isn’t about a God who sets traps; it’s a request for guidance before the fall—for gentle presence and living insight right where choices get made.

God Doesn’t Argue with the Cheesecake—God Changes Our Route

James is blunt: God doesn’t tempt, and God can’t be tempted (James 1:13–15). Temptation “gives birth” when we entertain a desire and rehearse its script. Meanwhile Psalm 23 paints another picture altogether: not a trap-setter, but a Shepherd who walks us through shadowed aisles, steering the cart toward still waters and right paths. And 1 Peter names Christ the “Shepherd and Guardian of our souls”—not a bouncer at the door, but a guardian who stays with us, redirects us, and keeps us moving toward life.

Prayer isn’t just rescue after we fall; it’s guidance before we do.

So when we pray, “Lead us not,” we’re not implying God leads us into trouble. We’re asking for three gifts:

1. Direction away from the shelves where we tend to stumble.

2. Discernment in the split-second when the story starts.

3. A way of escape (Paul’s phrase in 1 Corinthians 10:13) we can actually take.

   
   

What Buddhist Wisdom Adds to the Cart

Buddhist teaching gives us kitchen-ready tools: notice craving and aversion without making them the head chef. Pleasant, neutral, uncomfortable—treat each like a flavor to taste and release, not a buffet to binge or a vegetable to ban. This is equanimity: steady attention without grasping or pushing away. It doesn’t scold the appetite; it simply says, “I can feel this urge and not obey it.” That stance is a game-changer when the infomercial starts rolling.

Recovery’s Street-Wise Guardrails

Recovery movements keep it practical:

• Keep your eyes on the Good (or God). What we attend to grows.

• Avoid trigger zones. Don’t loiter by the bakery of old habits—people, places, or times where you reliably fall.

• Walk with companions. Freedom rarely happens by white-knuckling alone. A timely text—“You got this”—can be the difference between yes and no.

None of this is about moral heroics; it’s about pre-deciding a healthier route and letting the Shepherd guide your steps.

Why This Matters: From Patterns to Freedom

Tiny yeses form grooves. Grooves become ruts. Ruts can harden into addiction—a string of yielded temptations that becomes a pattern very hard to break. Forgiveness is real and endless—seventy times seven—but grace is more than pardon; it’s power. One sign grace is working is that our patterns start to change. We aren’t as dazzled by the sales pitch; we notice the exit earlier, and we take it.

Forgiveness welcomes us back to the table; grace quietly rewrites the menu.

Try This Tonight (yes, tonight)

1) The Two-Minute Reset - When the urge hits, pause. Breathe slowly for two minutes. Name what you’re feeling—pleasant, neutral, uncomfortable—and let it crest like a wave. Most urges pass if we don’t keep feeding them airtime.

2) The Trigger Map - Jot down three places/times where you slip. Circle one you’ll avoid or alter this week. (Yes, you’re allowed to leave the room. Yes, you can change your route home.)

3) The Exit Plan - Pre-decide one concrete “way of escape”: a walk, a call, a glass of water, closing the tab, turning off the light. Put a sticky note where the temptation lives: “Take the exit.”

4) Phone a Person - Tell one trusted friend your plan; ask them to check in at your vulnerable time. Companionship turns willpower into we-power.

A Pastoral Word for the Heart

Maybe the fridge light has been winning lately. Maybe it’s not cheesecake at all—it’s the scroll, the click, the comeback you keep replaying, the bitterness you keep feeding. Hear this: the Shepherd is not scolding you from a distance. The Shepherd is with you at the hinge of the door, ha

nd on the cart, voice steady and kind. The Guardian of your soul doesn’t argue with the cheesecake. The Guardian changes your route—and walks it with you.

And if you did fall yesterday? Forgiveness isn’t rationed. Start again today. The prayer is still good, the Presence still gentle, the insight still living.

Read, Share, Come Along

If this stirred something, share “The Cheesecake Infomercial” with a friend who might need a hopeful nudge. Better yet, join us this Sunday as we practice these moves together—prayer as guidance, community as guardrail, grace as changed patterns. Come for compassion; leave with a plan (and a lighter cart).