Meditations on the Moth

Like a moth to the flame.

A simple expression, seemingly saying that one is inexorably drawn to something, like a moth to a flame. However the natural parable is deeper than first blush suggests.

Moths are not `drawn’ to the flame per se. Rather, the moth is fooled by it. What the moth would like to do is simply fly straight along its way but the presence of the flame causes its senses to betray this goal. Normally a moth navigates by moonlight, but the flame’s light overpowers this stimulus and so the beacon is misplaced in the mind of the moth. This would not be a problem but for the one important distiction between the two sources of light. Whereas the moon remains virtually stationary relative to the moth, the flame appears to change its location as the moth flies. Not having the capacity to recognize this difference the moth becomes trapped by its failure to orient correctly, constantly adjusting its bearing in order to continue `straight'.

In my own life I can recognize becoming trapped in a similar way, in retrospect. The value I had placed on something, something which had served to orient me, had caused me to stray from the proper path as my relationship with that beacon changed.

The solution: choose the right beacon. Orient yourself by something that does not change as your perspective on it does. Find an eternal truth.