Couldn't tell you how these two relate, but in my mind they did. It all clicked last November... it was a wet, rainy night. The ground was soaked, and so the worms all came out onto the pavement so they wouldn't drown. So, I arrived about an hour earlier for a meeting at my home parish, St. Margaret Mary's, and I decided to go into the chapel and pray. It was a wonderful half hour before the Lord hidden within the Tabernacle. After time had passed and I needed to get on over to the meeting, so I genuflected and left. I felt so insipred and full of love.
Then I started to look at the ground, and I noticed that there were worms all over the sidewalk, so I made a challange to avoid the worms as though they were temptations and sins. So I avoided as many as I could, it was very easy to do so in the light (When walking with Christ in His light), but when shaded and darker patches came, it was hard to see if there were any worms (Shade--not being in the light of God). Then things started to connect, simply, it is much easier to see your faults and sins when you are in the light of God, but it is much harder to see when you turn away and become darker, and if you don't look down as to where you are going on the path of life, you don't notice then sins, even if you do run into them.
Later on after I was safely inside and futher pondering on my thoughts of worms, a friend of mine came in talking about how her daughter was outside picking up the worms off the sidewalk so that others wouldn't step on them, or "run into them". Suddenly, I thought, "If only avoiding sin was enough! But to clear the path for others to follow behind you!" It was such an interesting idea to me, and it grew on me. And then, not to be afraid to encounter temptation, but to handle temptations with care, and throw them off to the side. It really clicked. Simple, yet profound.
