What a thin dividing line there is between envy and jealousy. Did Joseph's brothers simply envy his coat of many colours or were they jealous of their father's special love for him? They probably began with envy but they certainly ended with jealousy of the most destructive kind. They destroyed the hated coat and grieved their father but failed to recognize that their behaviour also wounded themselves. Sometimes we see the wrong done to God and our neighbour by our sins but fail to register that we have also injured ourselves. We are so apt to make excuses, but our little imperfections have a horrible habit of ending in sin. Maybe this Lent we could spend a moment or two thinking about the ways in which our sins destroy something good in ourselves as well as doing wrong to God and our neighbour. It might provide just the spur we need to do something about them!