This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad. Psalm 118:24.
Chapter 7.
Visible Signs of Sin's Poison.
7.1 Nineteen visible signs of sin and its poison?
What happened to our first father Adam and to our first mother Eve for believing the Tempter and not their heavenly Father, will happen to you and me, to your spouse, to your children and to anyone who turns their heart from the Lord their God. We saw what the signs of the Tempter's presence are- what are the signs of the presence of sin's poison?
Knowing what the signs of sin are and seeing their visible effects, will enable you to identify the presence of the Tempter's poison either in yourself or in others. So enlightened, you can do what has to be done, to remove the deadly toxin before it kills you or a loved one or another who may fall into his trap. These then are the visible signs by which you can identify the poison of sin either in your realm of the kingdom or in the realm of a loved one.
7.2 First visible sign of sin, nakedness.
The Genesis narrative continues, "The man and his wife heard the sound of Yahweh God walking in the garden in the cool of the day and they hid from Yahweh God among the trees of the garden. But Yahweh God called to the man. 'Where are you?' he asked. 'I heard the sound of you in the garden;' he replied, 'I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.'" (2)
This first sin awakened our father Adam and our mother Eve to a new sensation, nakedness. Having done the unspeakable, our first parents saw themselves stripped of grace, naked- they lost the gift of participating in God's life. Nakedness describes our father Adam and our mother Eve deprived from fully participating in their heavenly Father's gift of Himself to them. The sweetness of holy simplicity and the happiness of His blessed peace were no longer theirs to enjoy. They lost their (and our) human vision of God, of the Truth. They lost the happiness of living in the presence of God. They lost for themselves (and for us) the right to participate in the divine vision of the world through our humanity. All they (and we) now see is self, loneliness and separation from our heavenly Father.
7.3 My first sin.
I remember my very first sin. One day at the age of nine or ten, coming home from school at noon, I walked by a parked soft drink delivery truck. The rolled up doors on one side revealed what looked like a million bottles of cola. Suddenly, out of the blue, within me I heard, "Who would miss one bottle? There are so many. One bottle more or less won't make any difference."
The question the Tempter confronted me with was, "Who would miss one bottle? There are so many." Remember, asking you a question is a ploy the Tempter uses to get your attention. This is done to catch you off guard, since when asked a question, we are triggered to reply. In so doing, we are then in dialogue with the Serpent, something you would never do on your own initiative.
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In response, I agreed. I grabbed a bottle and then ran as fast as I could. I ran, because I felt eyes were staring at me from every window on that street; I felt that everyone saw what I had done, I STOLE. I was a thief. I felt discovered and ashamed. I felt exposed. I felt naked. Where a few minutes earlier I was coming home from school without a care in the world, I was now running in fear. I was trying to hide because my heavenly Father (my conscience) was now confronting me, "What have you done?" (3)
As I was running away, I lost a toe rubber and returned to pick it up. A police cruiser turned the corner and immediately the officers put two and two together. They brought me into the car and returned the stolen bottle to the truck. They then drove me home and explained to my mother what had happened. What a lunch hour that was!
[On thing that did not happen, was to bring me back into God's loving arms again. The police told me this was a crime. Mother told me this was wrong. But no one helped to reconcile me with our dear Lord. Having been His innocent child one moment and a thief the next, without understanding why- I was literally in a spiritual daze. I was off balance. I lost my sense of direction. I was now living alone . . . in a "strange new land." I now realize that I did not even confess this sin, something I will rectify in this next loving encounter. We as God's children, as sweethearts (and especially as parents), have the responsibility of bringing one who has fallen back into our dear Lord's Heart. Whatever else we do to correct any injustices that may have been done, we must also bring this wounded heart back to his or her Father's home. We cannot leave another to continue life in a spiritual fog, confused, off balance, without a sense of direction.]
The first visible sign of sin's poison, is nakedness. (4) We are no longer clothed with the garment of innocence. Persons who go through life ever conscious of their nakedness (their guilt and their culpability) before God and before men, live life as one long continuous heartbreak. Days, weeks, months and years go by. The sinner distances himself from His heavenly Father, his spouse, his children, his parents and his friends.
7.4 The second visible sign of sin, fear of God.
Genesis continues, "The man and his wife heard the sound of Yahweh God walking in the garden in the cool of the day and they hid from Yahweh God among the trees of the garden. But Yahweh God called to the man. 'Where are you?' he asked. 'I heard the sound of you in the garden;' he replied, 'I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.'" (5)
Fear of God is the second visible sign of sin's poison. It filled our father Adam with apprehension, distress and alarm. He knows he has done something terribly wrong. For having done this, he will be the cause of God's painful heartbreak. Our first father broke a Heart that had lovingly made only one demand against His otherwise unlimited gifts. For having the audacity to reject all of God's gifts in favor of pursuing His one prohibition, our first father's fear is justly overwhelming. His egotistical action, so foolish and so defiant, has bitterly hurt the Person who loves him so. Persons who live in fear of God all their life, live one long continuous heartbreak. Days, weeks, months and years go by. The sinner distances himself from His heavenly Father, his spouse, his children, his parents and his friends.
7.5 The third visible sign of sin, hiding from God.
"The man and his wife heard the sound of Yahweh God walking in the garden in the cool of the day and they hid from Yahweh among the trees of the garden. But Yahweh God called to the man. 'Where are you?' he asked. 'I heard the sound of you in the garden;' he replied, 'I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.'" The next visible sign of sin's poison, is hiding from God.
7.6 How do we hide from God?
Like our father Adam, we hide from God by shutting Him out of our life, by not wanting to be with Him, by not wanting to see what He is doing, by trying to be where we think He is not. Persons hide from God by not looking at Him, by not listening to Him, by not wanting to talk with Him. We hide from God by not walking with Him, not learning from Him. Not wanting to be with others who relish His presence in their lives. We hide from God by making our affairs more important than His affairs. We hide from God by not working with Him and by not playing with Him. We hide from God by not reading about Him, by not treasuring and respecting His values. We hide from God by not wanting to be like Him. All these refusals are a person's way of hiding from God, of putting Him out of his or her life. We hide from God by not following Jesus, who "only does what He sees the Father doing." (6)
Like Adam who tried to hide from God, the sinner now lives in self-inflicted solitary confinement. Days, weeks, months and years go by. The sinner distances himself from His heavenly Father, his spouse, his children, his parents and his friends. He finds himself more and more alone.
7.7 The fourth visible sign of sin, blame.
The Genesis narrative continues, "Who told you you were naked?" he asked. "Have you been eating of the tree I forbade you to eat?" The man replied, "It was the woman you put with me; she gave me the fruit and I ate it." Then Yahweh God asked the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman replied, "The serpent tempted me and I ate." (7)
Blame is the next glaring visible sign of a person who is separated from Jesus our King, by the poison of sin. Blame is the sinner's response to discovery.
Our father Adam (because of his nakedness and fear) is actually blaming God for putting our mother Eve with him. He then blames her as well. He's trying to protect himself at any cost. Our first father was now in a state of panic. For having disobeyed God, his heart is filled with fear. When God questions our mother, she in turn blames the serpent.
Dear Friend, whenever you hear blame, what you are hearing is a soul in souring lamentation. Blame is pride's justification for transgression. When you hear blame, you hear a soul discovered in hiding from his or her heavenly Father. You must never be in hiding with such a person for you are a child of Light.
From the very beginning, light was separated from darkness. "God said, 'Let there be light' and there was light. God saw that light was good and God divided light from darkness." (8) Sin (Darkness) is an opposite to Love (Light).
St. Paul tells us, "Light and darkness have nothing in common." (9)
St. Luke suggests that the children of this world are children of darkness. He says, "For the children of this world are more astute in dealing with their own kind than are the children of light."
[Some persons try to live in the Light and in the Darkness at the same time. They want to be good but they also want the taste of adventure in being bad. This will eventually give them hundreds of heartbreaks. There is plenty of adventure in being good. As two hearts in love, you will cross clover filled plains, rampaging rivers, scorching deserts, lush valleys, towering mountains, swamps, jungles, peaceful lakes and fragrant lily ponds- each helping the other along the way. Moreover, all the heavenly treasure you can gather together is yours to keep. (10)]
All the kingdoms of the world are under Satan's power of darkness. (Matthew 4:8) Persons who blame others all their life, live in one continuous heartbreak. Days, weeks, months and years go by. The sinner distances himself from His heavenly Father, his spouse, his children, his parents and his friends. He finds himself more and more alone.
7.8 The fifth visible sign of sin, facing time and eternity alone.
Because of what they did, Yahweh God expelled our first parents from the garden of Eden. "He banished the man, and in front of the garden of Eden he posted the cherubs and the flame of a flashing sword, to guard the way to the tree of life." (11)
Having said, "No!" to his heavenly Father and, "Yes!" to the Tempter, our father Adam and our mother Eve separated themselves from God. They were the cause of their (and our) exile from the Garden of Eden. They achieved their wish and are now on their own. Survival and security are now their (and our) problem. The future is now their (and our) personal problem. Every man for himself is the new code by which we will live. Facing time and eternity alone is the next visible sign of sin's poison.
Persons who depend on themselves alone for everything they need, are bound to live their precious gift of life, in one long, continuous heartbreak. Days, weeks, months and years go by. The sinner distances himself from His heavenly Father, his spouse, his children, his parents and his friends. He is more and more alone.
7.9 the sixth visible sign of sin, false notion of self-sufficiency.
Because of stubborn pride, the sinner chooses not to repent before his King. He does not need God for his survival. He has a false notion of self-sufficiency. This is the next visible sign of the poison of sin in one's life.
Filled with anger because of his sin and what he has lost, his warped sense of purpose drives him on to search for ways to be self-sufficient. He now depends on his resources and his resources alone. His mission is to prove he was right in doing what he did, meaning of course that God was wrong. This is his new purpose in life. It will fill the vacuum he made when he said, "No!" to Jesus' Love for him, a vacuum which will eventually drive him to self-destruction. Persons who think they are self-sufficient unto themselves will live their short life in one long, continuous heartbreak. The days, weeks, months and years go by. The sinner distances himself from His heavenly Father, his spouse, his children, his parents and his friends. He finds himself more and more alone.
7.10 The seventh visible sign of sin, jealousy.
The next sign of the presence of sin's poison is jealousy. The sinner who persists in his sin pursues HIS goals for HIS survival, for HIS independence, for HIS security. He becomes increasingly aware however, that others are more successful than he is. With less effort than he, they live in that Peace he so earnestly seeks. They always have what they need. No matter how small they may appear, their achievements always satisfy them. They have time for other things besides work. The person who has chosen not to live with his or her heavenly Father, never has time for anything else except work, work and more work. Inevitably, he or she becomes jealous of these others and more and more dissatisfied with self. For this individual in this frame of mind there is never enough. While the rebelling sinner thinks he is on his own, in truth he is carrying out God's will. Ecclesiastes 2:26 tells us, "On the sinner lays the task of gathering and storing up for another who is pleasing to God." What divine mockery.
Persons who live their blessed life in constant jealousy, will suffer through one long, continuous heartbreak. The days, weeks, months and years go by. The sinner distances himself from His heavenly Father, his spouse, his children, his parents and his friends. He is now more and more alone.
7.11 The eighth visible sign of sin, rage.
Rage, the next visible sign of sin's poison, erupts from the depths of the sinner's soul like fiery lava from an exploding volcano. For the sinner, time is always running out. His jealousy and frustrations turn into destructive rage. His bitterness intensifies by the hour. Seeing others with more peace and security than he has, more time than he has, whose lives are so simple and uncomplicated compared to his own, who work less and get more out of life than he does, simply fuels his hate and rage. Watching others enjoying the fruits of their labor fills him with anger, for rest is not his lot.
Persons who live in constant rage will suffer through one long, continuous heartbreak. This is not how our wonderful gift of life is to be lived. The days, weeks, months and years go by. The sinner distances himself from His heavenly Father, his spouse, his children, his parents and his friends. He finds himself more and more alone.
7.12 The ninth visible sign of sin, vision is clouded, mind is confused.
As his rage is fueled more and more, his vision of himself and the world around him becomes increasingly clouded. Things are not working out the way they were supposed to. In spite of his Herculean efforts, he is not finding the security he is looking for. Although he is more and more determined, the results continue to be less and less than what HE wanted. He can't figure out what is wrong. Why are things not going as HE planned? Where is the Peace and the serenity HE yearns for, Peace HE has worked and struggled so hard for? Confusion and disappointment are the next visible signs of the poison of sin. Persons who do not know which way to turn, will live their glorious gift of life in one long continuous heartbreak. The days, weeks, months and years go by. The sinner distances himself from His heavenly Father, his spouse, his children, his parents and his friends. He finds himself more and more alone.
7.13 The tenth visible sign of sin, deviousness.
The years slip by very rapidly. The physical attributes of youth are now gone. He has tasted the bitterness of disappointment after disappointment. Gradually, he withdraws into himself. The gap separating him from the Kingdom of God widens and widens. He senses that everyone knows of his failings. Though he has achieved an animalistic sort of self-reliance and self-sufficiency, he does not have Peace, the real fruit of security and independence and what his soul longingly yearns for. With less and less time left, it is more and more obvious that his plan is not going to work. Now he will try to get through deception what he could not achieve openly. He turns to new allies- cunningness, treachery, deceit, fraud, bribery, hypocrisy, trickery, concealment and all other forms of deviousness. In his desperation he hopes that with their help he will finally reach his goal. The sinner plays by his rules, which is the next visible sign of the presence of sin's poison.
Persons who spend their life planning one devious act after another will suffer through one long, continuous heartbreak. The days, weeks, months and years go by. The sinner distances himself from His heavenly Father, his spouse, his children, his parents and his friends. He finds himself more and more alone.
7.14 The eleventh visible sign of sin, speed.
Speed is another sign of sin's poison, which very visibly identifies a person as one who has chosen not to live with his King. For this individual, there is never enough time. Things have to be done faster. There is no time for anyone or anything else but me and work, me and profits, me and acquisition of goods, more, more, faster, faster.
In his world time is always running out. Because of this, he repeatedly misses Providential opportunities for redemption. His obsessions take more and more control over his life. Persons who spend their life constantly rushing from here to there, to assure their security will suffer one long, continuous heartbreak. The days, weeks, months and years go by. The sinner distances himself from His heavenly Father, his spouse, his children, his parents and his friends. He finds himself more and more alone.
7.15 The twelfth visible sign of sin, avarice.
His security is now in money alone. He is more and more miserly. Our heavenly Father's love and the love of so many others who came his way were all rejected. It had no dollar value. It did not put money into his pocket. It was going to cost him. It was a waste of time.
In that absolutely wonderful movie 'A Christmas Carol', Alastair Sim portrays this disposition very vividly. Scrooge sees the consequences of this, when he sees all the hearts who were broken and who suffered because of his lust for money. Persons who spend their life in love with and dependent on their money, will suffer one long, continuous heartbreak. Money cannot love. Avarice is a visible sign of the poison of sin. The days, weeks, months and years go by. The sinner distances himself from His heavenly Father, his spouse, his children, his parents and his friends. He finds himself more and more alone.
7.16 The thirteenth visible sign of sin, heart hardens.
No matter what avenue he pursues, time after time, he reaches and faces the same dead end. For some this is after a few months, for others, after many years, sometimes a lifetime. Their rage heats to a continuous boil. Individuals who get into his way will suffer the consequences and it will be their own fault (blame). His single, twisted, blind sense of purpose has ruined many precious relationships and lives. He will only tolerate near him, those who are useful to him. Once their usefulness is over, he will discard them as so much excess baggage. A hardened heart now takes charge of the sinner.
Persons who use their beautiful gift of life to live with a hardened heart will suffer heartbreak after heartbreak. The days, weeks, months and years go by. The sinner distances himself more and more from His heavenly Father, his spouse, his children, his parents and his friends. He is more and more alone.
7.17 The fourteenth visible sign of sin, new gods are needed.
The sinner now realizes he can no longer reach his goal on his own. He calls on new gods to help him find that happiness he so earnestly seeks and needs. The god of information. The god of authority. The god of power. The god of prestige. The god of solitude. The god of astrology. The god of fortune-telling. The god of numerology and other members of the family of the occult. Their common denominator is that they do not acknowledge Jesus as God's Son, they do not honor, respect, serve and give Him the glory that is rightly His. Jesus is totally irrelevant and has no place in their worship. No matter how hard the sinner tries, his vocabulary and his lifestyle will continually show him as one who placed his trust in the Tempter. He is seen and known as one who turned his heart from his heavenly Father.
Persons who serve false gods will live their gift of life in one continuous heartbreak. The days, weeks, months and years go by. The sinner distances himself more and more from His heavenly Father, his spouse, his children, his parents and his friends. He is more and more alone.
7.18 The fifteenth visible sign of sin, spirit now condemns.
A lifetime has come and gone. Spouse and family have grown and left. Obsessed with his own goals, he has lost everything God has placed before him. In spite of his possessions he still does not have the peace and happiness he so desperately hungers for. Everything he tried has failed. He senses that all his efforts were for naught. His only act left to justify what he did is to condemn. Condemn others! Condemn creation! Condemn the church! Condemn parents. Condemn the government! Condemn! Condemn! Condemn! Each condemnation is a direct attack on the Creator, who "saw all he had made and indeed it was very good." (12) For this person however everything is bad. His condemning mouth identifies him as God's enemy. Persons who are constantly condemning others will spend their life living one long, continuous heartbreak. The days, weeks, months and years go by. The sinner distances himself more and more from His heavenly Father, his spouse, his children, his parents and his friends. He is alone.
7.19 The sixteenth visible sign of sin, despair.
Sin's poison is made visible by despair and discouragement. Rage fuels his desperation and steams through his entire being. Others fear him and stay far away from him. A whole lifetime has come and gone. He is now more alone than ever. He has tried everything. His isolation, solitude and single sense of purpose are now closing in on him. No matter how hard the sinner tries to mask his priorities or to deceive the enlightened, his vocabulary will continually reveal him as one who placed his faith in the Tempter, as one who turned his heart from his heavenly Father. The days, weeks, months and years go by. The sinner distances himself more and more from His heavenly Father, his spouse, his children, his parents and his friends. He is more and more alone.
7.20 The seventeenth visible sign of sin, soul is terrified.
His world begins to crumble around him. He has caused much pain and suffering to his heavenly Father and to so many others. His philosophy was to take, take, take and never give to anyone. His soul knows (even if he doesn't) what fate awaits him when this is all over, when he can longer put off facing his Creator to account for what he has done. Knowing the will is no longer in charge, the soul sees the eternal separation and fire ahead looming larger and larger. He stutters, trembles, falters, panics, and is indecisive. He cannot sleep or rest. These mounting fears manifest themselves as maladies of one kind or another in the soul's host body. The poison of sin is taking its toll. The days, weeks, months and years go by. The sinner distances himself more and more from His heavenly Father, his spouse, his children, his parents and his friends. He is more and more alone.
7.21 The eighteenth visible sign of sin, walking dead.
Prematurely aged, his whole being is troubled. Continually exhausted, he finds speed is no longer possible. His days unfold in more and more confusion. He can no longer think clearly. All his feelings have died. After years of toil and seclusion, his family is a family of things and possessions. They cannot return his love for them. They cannot speak to him. They cannot console him. They cannot love him. Franctically he searches among them, but cannot find love, consolation, understanding, love, togetherness, the touch of another.
" . . .whereas their idols, in silver and gold, products of human skill, have mouths, but never speak, eyes, but never see, ears but never hear, noses, but never smell, hands, but never touch, feet, but never walk, and not a sound from their throats. Their makers will end up like them, and so will anyone who relies on them." (13)
Like the rich man in Matthew 16:26, time has eroded a great gulf between him and those he used and abused. It is impossible for anyone to cross from their side to his side or for him to cross from his side to theirs. He is totally and completely alone. His will is no longer effective and his conscience has long ago sobbed a last loving admonition. The days, weeks, months and years go by. The sinner distances himself more and more from His heavenly Father, his spouse, his children, his parents and his friends. He is more and more alone.
7.22 The nineteenth visible sign of sin, cries of damnation.
His efforts were hopeless from the outset. He is now unaware of the world around him. His soul has died. His body awaits its own death, the final breath before being embalmed and buried. From the mouth of the damned we hear blasphemies, screams and curses, words that reveal a sinner in despair.
"What's the use?"
"I'm tired of trying. It just does not work."
"You can't trust anyone."|
"To hell with him."
"Look after number one first, no one else will."
"Let somebody else do it."
"It's no use."
"I pity the kids growing in THIS world."
"Unless you cheat you can't succeed."
"There's nothing anyone can do about it."
"Am I ever tired."
"No one gives a dam."
"Soon I'll be six feet under and it'll all be over."
He remembers his heavenly Father's admonition, 'you may eat indeed of all the trees in the garden. Nevertheless of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you are not to eat, for on the day you eat of it you shall most surely die.' (14)
This beautiful soul, marvelous wonder of our heavenly Father's delight, made in the image of His most beloved Son Jesus, has died. A lifetime has come and gone- and for what? Loved ones and friends have come and gone- all for naught. He has nothing of any value. His death was a suicide for having said, "No!" to Life, Truth and Love. His death was a suicide for having embraced the lies of Satan, the father of all lies, (15) for he told him when offering him the fruit of sin, "No! You will not die! . . . you will be like gods, knowing good and evil." (16) What a tragedy.
A beautiful, unique person has wasted the blessings of Love and Life. A heart once filled with love, has withered, shriveled and died. What terrible harm has also been done to those he trapped in his blind madness (spouse, children, parents and friends).
7.23 The doctor is healed.
When I give retreats on "Marriage in the Kingdom," on Friday evenings, we celebrate our week together with mass and a closing lunch. We also share with each other on how the retreat may have touched us.
In a particular parish, I remember a person (a family doctor) saying, "I never knew what sin I committed to feel so far away from God. Yet I know I sinned, because I'm living all of the symptoms (of sin). This week I finally saw what my sin is. Quite simply, I'm living my life as if God does not exist. I had no room or time for God in my life." His awakening was very inspiring. We were happy because this wonderful person and his spouse were now going to live, to really live.
Our King tells us, "A man had two sons. The younger said to his father, 'Father let me have the share of the estate that would come to me.' So the father divided the property between them. A few days later, the younger son got together everything he had and left for a distant country where he squandered his money on a life of debauchery.
When he had spent it all, that country experienced a severe famine, and now he began to feel the pinch, so he hired himself out to one of the local inhabitants who put him on his farm to feed the pigs. And he would willingly have filled his belly with the husks the pigs were eating but no one offered him anything. Then he came to his senses and said, 'How many of my father's paid servants have more food than they want, and here I am dying of hunger! I will leave this place and go to my father and say: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as one of your paid servants.' So he left the place and went back to his father.
While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity. He ran to the boy, clasped him in his arms and kissed him tenderly. Then his son said, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son.' But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the calf we have been fattening, and kill it; we are going to have a feast, a celebration, because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life; he was lost and is found.' And they began to celebrate." (17)
7.24 The bottom-line.
If you can no longer see because of the darkness, if you are dying because of the poison of sin, stop, turn and run into your heavenly Father's arms. Repent for having turned from His Love and trust in you. Take His hand and promise Him you will never leave Him again. Failure to do so can only mean heartbreaks the likes you have never known, for you and for those you trapped in your life. You now know what the visible signs of sin are and the sign of the poison of sin. If you see any member of your family in the grip of sin, through the power of God’s loving Word in you, rescue that person from the Lie that bit him or her.
Footnotes.
1 For a complete treatise on original sin given by Pope Jean-Paul II, see SUMMARY OF POPE JOHN PAUL II'S CATECHISES ON ORIGINAL SIN. It can be found on the Internet at: http://listserv.american.edu/catholic/church/papal/jp.ii/orignsin.ac
2 Genesis 3:8-10.
3 Genesis 3:13.
4 Signs of the presence of the poison of sin are underlined.
5 Genesis 3:8-10.
6 John 5:19.
7 Genesis 3:1-13.
8 Genesis 1:3.
9 2 Corinthians 6:14.
10 Matthew 6:20
11 Genesis 3:23-24.
12 Genesis 1:31.
13 Psalms 115:4-8.
14 Genesis 2:16-17.
15 John 8:45.
16 Genesis 3:3.
17 Luke 15:11-24.