Fear and the Lepers

Jesus walked among the lepers and touched them. Today, by contrast, we are urged to treat the quite healthy but merely “unvaccinated” as worse than lepers — as social outcasts to whom we shall not even grant the small dignity of delivering them baskets of food. And not only must we not touch our unclean ones, but we are not to speak of their very existence without castigation and vilification. They must be hated, while mere lepers may at least be pitied.

The difference between the two cases, of course, is that Jesus was the freest of men in his heart, whereas we are the most slavish of men in ours. He chose death over fear, and won life. We choose fear over death — and our approaching reward is as obvious in reality as it is obscure to those who, trembling, choose it.

I am sure you can find articles and sermons out there insisting that Jesus would favor vaccine mandates. The pathetic and cowardly will reduce themselves to saying anything in their own defense, as we all know.

Merry Christmas, since as far as I know we are still permitted to say that this year, systemically oppressive and non-compliant though I am sure it is.