Ouch!

For the first time this year, a biting fly nipped me on the leg while I was walking on the beach.  These flies are particularly malicious, masquerading as common house flies, but able to deliver a nasty bite.  Their clever “house fly” disguise makes them seem innocuous, but beach walkers quickly and painfully learn of their potency and their refusal to surrender.  I try to splash them with water, brush then away, or repel them with topical sprays, but they refuse to leave.  My husband carries a fly swatter with him, though the impact on bare skin hurts as much as the bite.  I suppose it’s the disguise that bothers me most, the ordinary appearance as though there’s nothing unusual.  I think of other things that come into my life cleverly disguised as harmless, but dangerous and painful, temptations that first appear as simple choices.  Forgive me, Father, when I succumb to temptation clothed in pretty costume, and please help me recognize and repel all that would injure my faith and my soul. Amen.