(An excerpt from Things I Know)
Thing 2
Willie Wonka is surprisingly thin for a guy who makes chocolate.
“Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” – Matthew 26:41 (NASB)
Come to think of it, I never read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by British author Roald Dahl, so I don’t know how he describes Willie Wonka. But there have been at least three film adaptations of the book, and the actors who portray Wonka—Gene Wilder (1971), Johnny Depp (2005) and someone named Timothee Chalamet (2023)—are all pretty thin.
The 1971 version—the one I saw as a kid—offers some good life lessons to guard against greed, selfishness, and gluttony. But I still can’t figure out how a chocolatier could stay so thin. Perhaps that’s because I have a weakness for peanut M&Ms, which, by the way, are the world’s greatest candy.
I figure it helps to know my greatest temptations. That way I can raise my defenses and proactively guard my heart, as well as my stomach.
Maybe Wonka didn’t care much for chocolate. Or maybe he was the most self-disciplined person who ever lived. But he is a fictional character, so that no doubt made it easier for him to resist Fizzy Lifting Drinks and Everlasting Gobstoppers.
Author’s Note: I self-published Things I Know as a gift for my grandchildren. I don’t actively market it, but if you want to buy a copy, that’s fine by me. Here’s a link.
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