With the whole ebola spiele still going strong, many have become paranoid even at the slightest of coughs and minimal of sneezes. As missionaries aren't supposed to keep up with "worldly media," I'm rather left in the dark about what seems to be unfolding before the world. However, here's a test for those who talk to missionaries a lot: ask a missionary if he (or she) knows any other location other than Africa where Ebola has been documented. Chances are, they're probably not very obedient.
Anywho, as we talk about disease and illnesses, I wanted to bring up chicken pox. Back in the day, a parent of a child would arrange sleepovers with that child's friends, one having had the chicken pox recently. This was a short-sighted yet somewhat effective measure to "innoculate" chicken pox to the children so they don't run the risk of catching shingles as adults. So as the children sleeps over at the home of the afflicted child, they are exposed to the germs (viruses) and poor sanitation of that said child. Lo and behold, all the children now have chicken pox!
We can see here an interesting parallel with our own spirituality, too. No matter who you are, the world is filled with filth and infection that'll give you many a malady. Unlike chicken pox or even ebola, spiritual diseases can afflict and maim even the most protected and sheltered one of us. If we're exposed to too much spiritual disease, we may end up where no oatmeal baths and chicken noodle soup can cure! We are at risk of catching this infectious thing wherever we are-- it's up to us to protect ourselves from such.
Now you wonder, what would be a spiritual chicken pox? Take a moment to think about that-- what is out there that can hinder our ability to find peace, impair our judgement, and otherwise backward society person by person? Hopefully by now, your noggin is cranking a few gears. If we're surrounded and exposed and put in to these toxic situations, objects, and what say you, how do you think we can be the good Christians/Jews/Buddhists we could possibly be?
It ain't happening.
Diseased carriers are are everywhere-- they can come in the forms of pornography, narcotic substances, vicious words, peer pressure, and many, many more. Exposure to even the slightest of these things can pose a great risk to our spiritual health, jeopardizing the health that we've been endowed with. It's a miserable experience being ensnared in those nets and escape is no easy task. Although we can come out of these ordeals, like many viral and bacterial diseases of now, it leaves a bit of itself that could have been avoided. Sooooooo, get vaccinated! Practice proper spiritual hygiene! Do all you can to avoid such things so that you aren't left to pain and suffering! Don't hang out with someone infected too-- you might catch it!
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