In John Le Carré’s novel, The Secret Pilgrim, a young intelligence officer visits East Germany to meet a spy. Anxiously, he carries cards with spy network details, which go missing after the visit, likely having fallen out of his pocket. Shortly afterwards, the spy network is discovered, resulting in torture and loss of life. This leads to the young man having a mental crisis and confessing to his superior in the intelligence services what he had done. The superior in question is the narrator, and in the novel, there are these words about the narrator’s reaction to what he had just heard: “Then the appalling triviality of what the young man had told me got through to me: that you could lose a [spy] network as easily as you could lose a bunch of keys.”

Although sin involves free choice and decision, it often resembles careless, unthinking behavior, much like losing keys due to a lack of thought and care. World history is filled with sins that are significant, systematic, and destructive.

Sin renders us blind and insensitive; sin stops us from being truly free. When sin gets into the system, when our whole way of thinking is touched by it, we can find ourselves almost sleepwalking into sin, shoring up the patterns of sin. We can find ourselves almost sleepwalking into hurting others and hurting ourselves, thoughtlessly, committing all those acts of petty cruelty and betrayal, that despite their banality and carelessness leave a trail of hurt and damage in their wake.

People often focus on significant wrongdoings such as cruelty, tyranny, and hate. However, the origins of these issues might lie in smaller actions that infiltrate systems subtly, diminishing awareness and leading to destructive outcomes. This can occur quite easily due to desires for physical satisfaction, power, or psychological complexity, where individuals play mind games and seek quick gratification. In the desert, Jesus is tempted in these ways, revealing the nature of temptation.

While many of the temptations we encounter are likely to be relatively minor, it is crucial not to exaggerate their significance. It is also important to acknowledge that our desires often aim for things that are genuinely beneficial. We should strive to avoid excessive scrupulosity and anxiety, as these can have negative effects. Conversely, we must guard against complacency, which can also be detrimental, as it might lead us to inadvertently engage in actions that harm ourselves and others.

Christ being tempted by Satan shows us hope and true happiness. Jesus resists turning stones into bread, yet he also eats and drinks with his disciples. Perhaps one lesson to draw from this is that it is only the one who can eat his food with self-control and without greed who can enjoy it fully. Greedy people are too busy thinking about what they do not have to enjoy, what they already possess.

Sin is a complex business that stops us from living as we ought, and so Lent is a wonderful opportunity to ask ourselves hard but realistic questions about true human happiness, questions that involve reflecting on the role of sin in our lives. To take up this opportunity is to ask if we have been sleepwalking through life, sleepwalking into patterns of sin and destruction, perhaps not so much out of active malice or greed, but almost carelessly, unthinkingly, almost like losing a bunch of keys through lack of thought and care.

Lent serves as an opportunity to open our eyes and, through the grace of God, embrace life and love—precious gifts offered by God that are never acknowledged by Satan.