What is Biblical leprosy?

Something that resonated was the Scripture (Luke, I think) about "the man covered in leprosy" who said to Jesus "if you want to" you can make me clean.

I'm not going to get into what the actual disease was, whether it was Hansen's disease or some other. I think leprosy here is a metaphor for Sin (with a capital S). Not sins, but the Big Enchilada. Everybody go "Ewwwwwww",  in unison. I think that the response we were intended to have. Leprosy, or any infectious disease, provoked that same reaction. Disease etymology (or do I mean etiology) was poorly understood. Disease or dis-ease was caused by little demons. Now we know that it is caused by little organisms (you knew I would go there) called germs. Modulo resistant strains, we have remedies that the ancient world did not. Rather, more effective, more humane than ostracism or indeed pistachios, which is what autocorrect would insist upon. (Sorry, I couldn't resist. )

So what makes us go Ewww? It varies. Google pharmakos. For the lazy among us, I'll define it. Scapegoat, in a word. The pharmakos,  from which root we get pharmaceuticals etc, was that poor unfortunate who was selected as the "author of all our ills" and ended up being killed, usually fairly nastily. Made society feel so much better.

Modern pharmakoi include: the Jews (in certain unrespectable circles), the mentally ill (why can't we just conform), communists (back in the 50s), terrorists, and bullies. These are all groups which have exercised the imaginations of people afraid of the dark. Why are we afraid of the dark? Because of what is in it. I wander off topic, but I think it has something to do with death.

In my (private) Ignatian retreat rant, I made much of how icky homeless people are. As Christians (of whatever flavor), we are not supposed to feel this way, but I almost think society can't function without -somebody- to fill this role. We strive to move people out of the pharmakoi position, but other groups fall into that niche. We talk about feeding the homeless, but we should really bathe and groom them and find more comfortable places for them. Sleeping in park benches is not pleasant. We need to do more.

Perhaps we should build more prisons. Not.

The boogeyman gets a lot less scary when we can laugh. Maybe we don't need to be afraid.  Death -is- inevitable, after all.

And, after a respite...

The Muse has been silent of late, but I am encouraged by the blogging of a friend to start up my blog to address my particular issues. I don't claim to have a special relationship with God or whatever - this soapbox is mine alone. How's that for a bit of free writing? Non sequiturs are my worst enemas.

I had started this blog with a spirito-religio slant, with perhaps an emphasis on acedia (a $10 word meaning laziness), but since I am also blessed with the "dangerous gift" of a mental health diagnosis (while it does have aspects of a chronic illness, I also have a creative - perhaps annoying to you neurotypicals - personality).

My specific diagnosis is schizoaffective disorder. I also suffer from anxiety, both chronic and acute. To those of you not familiar with the DSM (is it IV or V now?), this is a combination of schizophrenia and manic depression. My wife also thinks I am on the autistic spectrum. Perhaps a bit of OCD? That bit of anxiety might explain some things: when money is tight, I really want another book. But I can quit any time I want, you understand. Bibliomania means never having to worry about having something to read.

I will be presenting insights from the Ignatian retreat (Retreat In Daily Life) that I am participating in is a drawn-out version of Ignatius' Spiritual Exercises. Instead of taking thirty days, it takes thirty weeks. Each day has a Scripture passage, a meditative/prayer session, and a spot of journaling. Every two weeks, I meet with a spiritual director.

The first bit has us understanding how much God loves us, but at the same time, we are nothing (but in a good way,  you understand). Also, God is inescapable, like a (perhaps persistently unwanted) lover. This is perhaps more obvious in the mystical writers like St John of the Cross & Teresa of Avila.

I got hooked on religious writing last Lent, but I can stop anytime I like.