The Manhole

One morning, a man began his customary walk to work. 

On his journey, he fell into an open manhole, which promptly ruined his day.

The next day, on his morning commute, he made sure to keep an eye out for any open manholes. 

Unfortunately, he slipped on a banana peel and landed in a puddle. This, too, ruined his day.

On the third day, he set out again, keeping a sharp eye out for any open manholes or discarded banana peels. A pigeon flying overhead pooped on his head. As you can imagine, this also ruined the man’s day.

On the next day’s walk to work, the man was determined to avoid becoming the target of another pigeon. He regularly surveyed the sky for signs of attack.

He fell into a manhole, which ruined his day.

This man is me. 

Maybe he’s a little bit you, too.

I seem to struggle with the same handful of sins, over and over again. They are the traps the devil uses to distract me, discourage me, and draw me away from God. After I fall, shake myself off, and regain my senses, it’s easy to see where the devil was at work. I go to confession and continue my journey, determined not to let that sin trip me up again.

Which is the cue for the devil to prepare the next trap for me from his rotation of greatest hits. 

The thing is, they are the same few traps, again and again. I roll my eyes and mock his utter lack of creativity, only to inexplicably fall into another manhole for the ten thousandth time. This open manhole may have been on the other side of the street from the last one, which is why it feels different, but it’s still a manhole.

Too often, I linger down there in the sewer, and not just a day, but a whole week is ruined. 

He may use different traps on you than he does with me, but the devil has a limited number of tricks. He’s not very creative at all. 

But why does he need to be if the three things he tries always work?

This reminds me of what St. Paul said about dealing with a persistent, recurring struggle:

“A thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it should leave me; but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’”

-2 Corinthians 13:7-9

God allows the devil to put these manholes, banana peels, and incontinent pigeons in our path because He can use them for our good. They can make us stronger and transform us so that we look more like Jesus. His power is made perfect in our weakness.

He does the heavy lifting in this process, but we have a role to play, too. 

Namely, to open our eyes to the spiritual war that we are in, so that we are not constantly caught off guard by the same open manhole again and again. We can think about the situations that make us vulnerable to the traps and work to set up safeguards that help us avoid them. We can set up a counter strategy that includes things like prayer, Mass, confession, and intercession from the Saints. 

Maybe then we can force the devil to get creative for a change.

But more importantly, maybe our increased awareness will allow us to climb out sooner than in the past, spending less time in the sewer, away from God.

And maybe, just maybe, we can avoid the darn thing altogether once in a while.