Self-Destruction
Illustration★★★When the snail is small, the jellyfish will sometimes swallow it and draw it into its digestive tract. But the snail is protected by its shell and cannot be digested.
The snail fastens itself to the inside of the jellyfish and slowly begins to eat it. By the time the animal is fully grown, it has consumed the entire jellyfish. Many of us are like that jellyfish. We feast on our own snail that eventually will consume us.
For some it’s alcoholism. We start out as social drinkers. Then the desire for a drink grows and begins to gnaw at us, and we wind up being consumed by a thirst we can’t control.
In other cases, it’s hatred. Someone does something that we perceive as hateful, and we hate them back. We seethe inside, and eventually we are consumed by our hate. Worry can do the same thing; so can greed.
But for most of us it can simply be the aimlessness of our lives.
Soundings” (Adapted.
The point
Like a snail that slowly consumes the jellyfish that swallowed it, our own habits and sins can end up consuming us.