Landmines in Daily Life

The story of a man who stepped on a land mine was quite intriguing to read in a recent Indian edition of Readers Digest. Although I’ve previously read stories of people who have stepped on mines, this time I began thinking about those who set such traps. I wonder if they set off their own mines and loose limbs and lives. I’d imagine if they were not extremely systematic and careful, they would fall into their own traps, especially since they are setting up so many land mines in certain areas.
In common daily situations, some have a lifestyle of setting traps for others. It may be with words, procedures, or regulations within bureaucratic settings. The psalmist describes such a person with quite descriptive words: “Behold, the wicked man conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies. He makes a pit, digging it out, and falls into the hole he has made. His mischief returns upon his own head, and on his own skull his violence descends” (Psalm 7:14-16).
These are people who are so mischievous that others are not able to relate to them with any sense of normalcy. Maybe we’re not so extreme in our approach. But living in a society or working in an environment that’s heavy on the side of corruption and deceit can be quite a challenge – after some time, we can begin to think and behave in similar ways.
Whatever situation or environment we are in, we must take that initiative to know who we are and be willing to be counter-cultural in our approach. Even if everyone around us is corrupt, we must be different. Even if it is because we know that the one who digs a pit will eventually fall into it.
Share your experience of facing corruption or “pit digging” in the comments section of this blog post.