Recent Musings:
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty.
When, how, do I get my life back?
The untouchables.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
I heard a sermon about a leper who wanted to be healed. He went in faith to Jesus saying, "If you choose, Jesus, you can heal me," and Jesus responded, "I do choose; be healed."
The pastor focused on lepers and leprosy and how these people, because of their disease, were shunned, segregated and labeled. These people lived in communes outside the cities - away from family and friends, these people needed to call out "unclean" whenever they walked near others and lived lives as outcasts. Their disease was highly contagious and came with such dire consequences, such as total exclusion, that people had every right to drastically avoid them. However, when a man with leprosy walked up to Jesus, Jesus, out of pity, listened to him and touched him, healing him instantly.
The pastor's point was, when imitating Christ, learn to touch the untouchables.
I thought about that concept; it was a good concept to be taught. I thought about the things I considered untouchable, things I didn't want to "catch" from other people and my fears didn't necessarily lie in diseases or illnesses. I shamefully admit that I shudder upon the possibility of "catching" things like narrow-mindedness, poverty, intolerance, racism or fear, even things like being in contact with elderly or decrepit people.
Why would that be? Why would I look at these things as untouchable things and shudder? Surely I can't contract poverty or racism or age from others. I decided that perhaps what I fear is losing control of my self, control of my mind, control of my choices or control of my emotions; basically, I fear the loss of my life as I know it. Perhaps, but I'm not certain.
I will say that I was able to overcome some of the untouchable syndrome and found beauty in the people I had previously considered untouchable. That filled me with humility and taught me a good life lesson.