Once there was a woman who had a coin pocket in her purse.  She kept coins and other small items therein, like a spare piece of gum.  One day at the checkout counter the woman put two fingers into her coin pocket so that she could give the clerk the exact change.  Alas, her fingers came out sticky, and every coin had a buildup of gum on it.  The gum wrapper had worn through.  Being too embarrassed to hand the clerk gummy coins, the woman found another dollar bill, and handed it to the clerk instead.  The clerk handed some coins back in change.  The woman thanked the clerk, the clerk thanked the woman, and the woman added the new coins to her coin pocket.

The same thing happened at the next store, and at another store two days later.  The same thing continued to happen for weeks, because the woman never gave the gummy coins a thought except when she needed some for change.

One day the woman noticed that her purse was getting quite heavy.  As she investigated the cause, she found that the coin pocket was bulging.  When she emptied it, she found that all but the last five coins to be put in the pocket were gummy.  One by one she cleaned them.  It was a very unpleasant job, and took a long time.

Application:

Problems, like sins, are easiest to deal with before they multiply.

30 March 2012