Sin: A Bad Case of Poison Ivy

A few weeks ago, I returned from assisting at a high school summer camp. I had a great time and brought home with me an uplifted spirit, happy memories, and a renewed faith...along with a bad case of poison ivy. And it got me to thinking...and suddenly it hit me: sin is a lot like a bad case of poison ivy. It's something we're told over and over again to avoid, yet no matter how hard we try to, temptation still seems to find ways to creep up on us. Knowing what poison ivy looks like and where it is found helps us to be less likely to run into that kind of trouble though. And that's a lot like how the near occasion of sin works.

Certain things lead us to sin – things like dirty books, porn, and movies with vulgar language – and avoiding where sinful things are helps us to avoid the near occasion of sin. No one purposely runs into poison ivy and rolls in it – so why would we purposely run into a situation that leads us to sin and risk it? And once you've got the oil on you, it can spread like wildfire. Once you pick up that dirty magazine and decide to “read” a page, it is hard to put down. And even after you have washed the oil off, the poison ivy isn't done with you. It still affects you even after the oil of the sin is gone. Once you finish the magazine and finally put it down, it can still affect you: remembering dirty images, changing your standards for a marriage partner, judging others based off of looks, lusting – the list goes on and on.

And once the bumps and blisters come, that is when the itch sets in. After you have looked at the magazine and thought the things you have, the guilt is bound to set in. And when people find out what you have done, they may see you differently, in a way that makes you disappointed in yourself. And the guilt is bound to drive you crazy; not only that, but it will become easier to sin again knowing you have already hurt yourself. And the thing about poison ivy is that it loves making friends. It is more than happy to spread to someone else if you get close enough. When you sin, what you do can impact others. Your sinfulness can cause others to sin or what you did can hurt them in some other way.

The blisters of sin are ugly and make themselves known. But itching only makes it worse. Doing other things to try and drown your guilt - like drinking and doing drugs – only make things worse. And in the end, it can leave scars. The poison ivy may be gone, but the evidence that it was there can be forever marked on you. The same with sin. You can be forgiven, but there are some things you will always remember.

Once you have poison ivy lumps on your body or sins covering your soul, it takes special treatment for them to go away. When I first got poison ivy this year, I used poison ivy cream, then got a shot, took medication for it, and then I still took Benadryl. And the itchy blisters have finally faded. To purify your soul from sins, it takes so much and yet so little. You must go to Confession and confess your sins, being sincerely sorry with the intention not to sin again. And then you do your penance and your soul is clean. Just like that. It sounds so easy, but it can be so hard to admit to God, a priest, and yourself what you have done wrong.

So. The moral of this article? Stay away from poison ivy and the near occasion of sin and you will save yourself from a lot of irritation and pain.