Solitude Sometimes Is
This weekend my wife was out of town at a retreat, leaving me with the house to myself for the first time in ages. My plans were pretty simple: loud music, playing drums, some cleaning, and dealing with the power outages caused the storms that ravaged the Midwest. However, it turns out that those distractions weren’t enough to keep me from another houseguest, one whom I’ve grown to hate: myself. As the weekend crept on I became acutely aware of my sinful ways and the opportunities that bring them bubbling to the surface. What started as a chance to finish up some projects became a battle with the darkest and most sinful parts of myself—those judgmental thoughts, lustful tendencies, impatient impulses, selfish desires, and general laziness. It’s not what makes for a dream weekend, but sitting in a dark house without power on a Friday did yield one positive result: it reminded me that sin is always scratching at the door. The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and...