SIN, STRUGGLE AGAINST

Near Watsonville, California, there is a creek that has a strange name: Salsipuedes Creek. Salsi puedes is Spanish for “Get out of it, if you can.” The creek is lined with quicksand, and the story is that many years ago, in the early days of California, a Mexican laborer fell into the quicksand. A Spaniard, riding by on a horse, saw him and yelled out to him, “Salsi puedes!” which was not very helpful. The creek has been so named ever since. That is what the flesh is like. We struggle to correct these tendencies—to get out of the effects of our sinful nature—but we cannot do it.1288