"Bondage" by Jim Yackel

It's a rope that so many of us cling too; and some make it a demi-god. It's the chains that strongmen have wrapped around us in an effort to drag us off of the towpath that we wayfare and down into the

 stagnant, muddy canal. What's this thing I write of? It's bondage...

Some have so much of the thing that makes this world go 'round; and that thing is money. Oh, we all need it don't we? But, when does it become a rope of bondage? When does one cling to that rope in a death-grip for fear of losing? When does one see the bubbling cauldron of moderation with it's swirling goo below them, and they say "I'll have none of that! This is mine and I am afraid to slip down this rope and into that witch's brew! Please, please, please, mister, don't lower this rope! Noooooooooo!"

It is easy to serve the ropes and chains that bind us; whereby serving the men and the demons that wrap them around us. It is too easy to cling to that rope - climbing furiously into spiritual and physical fatigue - for fear of losing status and identity down in that cauldron. But what it really is about is control. So many want to be the binder who wraps the chains and who operates the pulley that raises and lowers the rope. So many want to control others because they are afraid of losing control. Yes, so many desire to manipulate in an effort to maintain a false perception of manliness.  (More here...)