It seems to me such a tragedy today, that we – for the most part – ignore those signs, and just leave those souls to suffer with the infection of sin…
The other day my father underwent some serious orthopaedic surgery.
This involved an extended stay in hospital and a protracted recovery that required him to complete extensive physiotherapy.
Now, there were a lot of risks going into that surgery. My father’s general health and the extend and severity of his condition prior to the surgery were serious considerations in his decision to proceed with the operation at all. The quality of his life prior to the surgery and for the short, medium and long term after the surgery were also serious considerations for him.
One of the possible complications of this surgery was that he could possibly develop an infection following the surgery and that infection could cause him to become generally unwell. This would mean that something which had only caused him pain (but no sickness) prior to the surgery could cause him pain and sickness (at least in the short term) following the surgery.
And – of course – there was a complication following the surgery, though it related to infection and nothing more sinister than that.
Now, my father had that infection in his body for some time prior to it being discovered. Nurses took his temperature and measured his blood pressure every few hours of the day. And his therapists observed him. He began to shake when he stood and sat and became very tired and needed to rest more than was to be expected. And all of these signs together caused my mother – who was caring for him in hospital – to guess that he had an underlying (and as yet undiagnosed infection). Thankfully, the infection was quickly treated with a course of antibiotics and my father was soon back to normal and right as rain – so to speak.
But I have been thinking about this infection over the last few days. You see, that infection reminds me of the consequences of sin.
You see, there are no escapes from sin. While people may think that they can get away with things, things have a way of catching up with them in one way or another. And there are signs that sin has infected a human soul. And these signs are like the elevated temperature or lowered blood pressure, or even the shakiness and the tiredness. Perhaps on their own they do not mean very much each of those things are just one indication of a greater problem and together, when considered through the eyes of someone who knows the soul very well (as my mother knows my father very well) they tell a story of a soul in distress, just as my father’s physical symptoms told a story of his physical wellbeing in distress.
And I have been thinking about that today. For the world is filled with suffering souls, infected with sin. And though we might look at them from the outside and think to ourselves that they are so lucky in this lifetime, there are always telling signs of what is going wrong.
And it seems to me such a tragedy today, that we – for the most part – ignore those signs, and just leave those souls to suffer with the infection of sin…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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