DELILAH.......

                                                              

Superman’s weakness was kryptonite. Grapes were mine! I wasn’t supposed to touch those luscious beauties with a barge pole.

Which is why I am surprised with myself as I jauntily stride towards the valley of Sorek (grapes) in deep Philistine territory where some wine celebration thing was going on. One, the Philistines were mortal enemies, two, if it smacks or looks like wine, I should be headed in the opposite direction. But I have always been a risk taker and a bit blasé about my divine destiny. If not, I should have remembered that being around vineyards do not usually portend good will for me. The last time I was near one in Timnath, a lion attacked me though I quickly made short work of it.

Deep within, my main reason was to see if I could catch an eyeful of Philistine wenches. Grapes and non kosher food were "no nos” for me but my real weakness was these uncircumcised chics. For uncircumcised women, I found them quite kosher dishes. Now they were my real achilles heel. Some guy later went on to write that I was a He-man with  a she weakness. Superman runs away from kryptonite but for some reason, I always run towards mine.. Pop and mom and all the high priests have perpetually warned that covenanted folks should never have anything to do with the uncircumcised. Light never fellowships with darkness, they continually admonish but my sun still burns bright. My name actually means sun. it seems with my super powers come super deafness and super pride.

I hated everything Philistine aside from their ladies! I should have, but somehow I had never given much thought to why I am usually attracted to the enemy, enticed to what might be the death of me. Even with my prowess for riddles, this is one I haven’t been able to crack. If I am to ever hazard a guess, I would say its because Jewish girls are too tame for me. They are like lambs compared to the wolverine  nature of their counterparts.  Somehow Hebrew babes don’t make my blood boil to steaming point. Over the years I have been playing with fire in my bosom but the thrill makes all the danger worthwhile. My trysts with these ladies of Gath and Ashkelon usually gets me into trouble but always presents me with the opportunity to whip the behind of these oppressors of Israel with relish. I do it with my eyes closed. A few days back while exploring the treasures of a harlot at Gaza, my enemies got wind of it and laid a seige on me but I managed to escape at midnight. Something must be wrong with me, because here I am again.

As I got into the maelstrom of the party, my nerves were set on edge, I hate their music! But something  happened that caused the whole direction of my life to shift. I saw her dancing and her name was the best thing to ever hit my ossicles! It causes a lilt on the tongue, leaves a taste on it akin to the most delicious palm date.

She was a red head, with red lips and a red short dress skimpy enough to save my imagination a lot of stress. She seemed to have been conceived and incubated in wine with a complexion that was like cream goat cheese’s. The gap between her pearly whites hinted of a paradise where pomegranates fluorished uninhibited, if I can’t have grape wine, I sure can do pomegranates (hehehe, I chuckled to myself). I envisioned myself drinking mead that was sweeter than wine from the goblet of those lips. Waist beads accentuated her hip and silver bracelets her ankles (my best locations for jewellry), lovely trinkets that deflected the arrows of sunshine right into my heart.  The tatoo on her neck spoke of ancient arcane secrets that I quickly unravelled through my smoky intense gaze. She looked at me and smiled; ours was instant chemistry. Her oxygen with my hydrogen would form water sweeter than the one I drank at En-hakkore. As she gyrated and swivelled, jiggled and bounced, my mind splintered like a mirror into a million shards, each sliver a reflection of a thousand torturing images. She was a sea of magnetic mesmerization, and having discarded the life jacket of my morals, I hopelessly and pleasurably drowned. My heartbeat roared more than the lion I spoke about earlier and I could visualize all the honey I was going to get out of this one (I promptly forgot that the honey I got from the dead lion was not legitimate since being a Nazirite forbade touching dead things). I fell in love. Since I was Samson, she could not resist my advance and became wholly mine. The valley of Sorek became a place of intoxicating pleasures.

Our relationship was a rollercoaster ride in a the eye of a hurricane  from the word go! Boy! She could nag! But the heavenly pleasures she offered where worth it!  What is it with her and the source of my strength? No maiden had ever asked me that before? But I had also never loved another like her before and would never want to lose her. She harrased me like angry wasps until I started teasing her thinking she would get fed up with time but to my amazement, she had the tenacity of a mule and ran me ragged until I could not bear the nagging anymore. I progressively went from ridiculous stuff until I got to her messing with my hair, then I finally bared my heart to her. That is how we strong men lose it, gradually monkeying around with our fate until the truth dawns that we have been had! I figured it would make no difference since she truly loves me.

Wily vixen Delilah was, she knew touch was my love language and made me lie on her laps. Massaging and touching, kissing and petting until I went into a heavy sleep like I was drugged (she was a drug). I woke up to see my locks gone and the Spirit departed. I was reduced to putty, a normal man as bald as an egg. I was on my powerless own!

I got to know she had been paid by my foes to ferret out my secret. My tormentors gouged out my eyes, put me in brass fetters and  made me grind their grain all day. When you stupidly fall off the path of destiny, you lose your vision and your life goes from the sublime to the menial. From the heights of the supernatural and extra-ordinary you plummet to the low of the ordinary and natural. I, Samson, the sun of Israel  reduced to a blind bat grinding grainy meals. From a life of exhilarating freedom, I found myself in a prison of limitations! I remembered the past, when with the jawbone of an ass, I leveled a thousand Philistine elite soldiers. But that was the past. Regret flooded my soul like faecal water in a blocked cesspit! The maggots of ignominy festered in my soul!

My hair started to grow again. Mercy never lets go! Brother, if you lost hair, do not lose hope for it will grow again. The One I was covenanted to is merciful, gracious and loving. Hope burst upon my face like a ray of sunlight kissing a sunflower seed after a long winter, it filled my core like a dead root coming alive at the scent of water. Nothing rocks like redemption!

During the festivities to worship their god, I was called upon to clown for them. I told the kid who led me to support me between the pillars holding up their temple. Philistines are dumb, who hinges the whole support of such a massive edifice on two moveable pillars! Guys, the pillars of your life will determine the strength of your destinies! Most people like the Philistines don’t give much thought to the flimsy pillars they hinge their lives, career, marriages, finances, health, etc, on. It makes sense to have only One pivotal pillar, a Chief Cornerstone. I reconnected to my Source and asked Him to move through me one more time and to allow me die with my enemies. A LIFE WITHOUT VISION IS NOT WORTH LIVING! I would rather die!

I brought the whole house down! Sod their Dagon! I was buried under a tomb of stones and as my lastbreath was snuffed out, a lone tear ran down my eye. My reign as a leader in Israel lasted for only twenty years. My sun has set faster than it was supposed to…. Delilah, I thought, if not for Delilah….

A PRUDENT MAN SEES TROUBLE COMING AND HIDES HIMSELF………………………….