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Modern Day Leper


“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.” ~ Matthew 5:43-44

Just the other day, I was in the grocery store trying to pick-up a few things. Grocery shopping today, in the aftershock of the Corona virus, has become a significantly different experience. For one, you no longer really go grocery shopping with a list, so much as you go grocery shopping with an idea of the things you need, and then you just hope that you will find something on the shelves that can meet that need. Honestly, even though this can be frustrating and annoying, it doesn’t bother me much; I have never been a huge fan of shopping anyways.


Here is what does trouble me about how grocery shopping has changed. As you walk around collecting your items, have you noticed the general mistrust or anxiety people have towards each other? It is almost as if people look at other people as either a) someone who might infect me, or b) someone who might purchase something that I need. People smiling at each other, caring about people, has almost become a cultural foul because of “social distancing.” It is easy to care about those people closest to you (family, household, friends), but those people outside of that inner circle are almost treated like the enemy, for “they might be carrying the plague.”


Now, before you misunderstand me, I am not saying that we need to disregard the infection control precautions put in place to protect us, by no means. I think the problem surfaces when we begin to look at people in a way that disregards their humanity, inherent Image of God in all people, and only sees them as a potential threat. In mental health, often times the struggle is for people to be seen as a person and not as a diagnosis; with the threat of the Corona virus now in the world, we have the same issue on a much more massive scale, even though it is not depression or bipolar, but rather people being labeled as “potential sources of infection.”



Jesus said to “love your enemies” just as well as you love your neighbors and friends. He preached that message in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), and then right after, in Matthew 8, he encounters a man with leprosy. During the time, lepers were the outcasts of society, often considered to be cursed by God and a danger to “decent people of society,” and no one dared risk touching a leper for fear of getting sick themselves. As Jesus was leaving after the Sermon on the Mount, a leper came to Jesus and kneeled, saying “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” (Matthew 8:2) And what was Jesus’ response? “Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ he said. ‘Be clean!’” (Matthew 8:3) Sometimes we can get focused on what Jesus said, but equally as important is what Jesus did: he touched the man. Who knows how long it had been since the man had experienced such a simple human interaction as a touch? Not only did Jesus heal the man of his leprosy, but Jesus reached out and saw past the man’s disease and drew out his humanity. That man was created in the Image of God, which makes him inherently valuable and worthy of connection.


As someone who works in the health care field, I am infinitely aware of the importance of the precautions in place to prevent the spread of infection. But I am also aware on how the efforts to sterilize from infection can cause people to sterilize their interactions and relationships. People are people, and no matter what is happening in the world, we were all created with an inherent need for relationship and community. Let us be ever mindful and vigilant to not allow our efforts to combat this sickness, blind us to the Image of God in which all people were created. People are important, valuable, and even more so now, in need of compassion and care. How we treat people is a reflection of our relationship with God; when we disregard or ignore the Image of God in all people, we disregard and ignore the presence of God that we encounter through other people.


In our efforts to combat and protect from the Corona virus, let us be ever mindful of the importance of treating people with compassion and care. Make someone smile, tell a joke, be silly and playful . . . live your life! Do not allow this threat to strip away the innate joy, peace, and community that is a gift from God.


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