10082022 – Luke 17. 11- 19
About the subject of “Biblical Leprosy” he wrote:
“It might begin with little nodules which go on to ulcerate. The ulcers develop a foul discharge; the eyebrows fall out; the eyes become staring; the vocal chords become ulcerated, and the voice becomes hoarse, and the breath wheezes. The hands and the feet always ulcerate. Slowly the sufferer becomes a mass of ulcerated growths. The average course of that kind of leprosy is nine years, and it ends in mental decay, coma, and ultimately death. (But that is just one form of the disease.)
(Another form) might begin with the loss of sensation in some part of the body; the nerve trunks are affected; the muscles waste away; the tendons contract until the hands are like claws. There follows ulceration of the hands and feet. Then comes the progressive loss of the fingers and the toes, until in the end a whole hand or a whole foot may drop off. The duration of this kind of leprosy is anything from twenty to thirty years. It is a kind of terrible progressive death in which a man dies by inches.”
Leprosy two-thousand years ago was indeed a “very frightening” and a serious-social- disease…and it was especially horrendous for all those who lived in community with one another.
The gospel text IS about leprosy, and IT IS NOT.
According to Leviticus 13, “The person with such an “infectious disease” must wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of their face, and cry out, “Unclean, Unclean!” As long as he has the infection he remains unclean. He must live alone; he must live outside of the camp.”
Talk about marginalization and living in the margins! This was “disenfranchisement,” “powerlessness,” “alienation” and “being stigmatized,” at its worst.
Most see the text as being about “gratitude” or about “giving thanks…”
I hear the gospel read and my mind sometimes reminds me of “griping, grousing, groaning, and grumbling.”
Just the opposite of what WE WOULD EXPECT.
It is a COMMON ENOUGH “human response,” not necessarily, a nice one, but a response, to be sure…a “TRAP to fall into”…
Been there, done that, usually (but NOT always) HATE IT!
Instead of “gratefulness,” “appreciation,” “acknowledgement,” “gratitude,” and “thanksgiving…”we find something to complain about…
I think about “attitudes” our “understandings”…our “perspective”…our “frame of mind,” our “vantage point,” and our “overall outlook on life…”
It changes, doesn’t it…it is not static.
Daily, weekly, monthly, year-by-year…sometimes, hourly…
I do not know about you, and can only speak for myself, but I for one “feel bad,” not IF but WHEN – I catch myself, “griping, grousing, groaning and grumbling.” (Because it does happen!) I do, I feel bad. And I can do it-SO-WELL, too!
You know, on the back of the Milwaukee County Sherriff’s deputies squads, it says, “ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING.”
I get that. But sometimes it is so hard to BE and to STAY positive…and it becomes DIFFICULT to rise above the FRAY.
I am always so thankful for those, whose cup is always 1/2 full. Some people can find beauty in everything! Some people seemingly, only see the positive! It is almost like they refuse to get caught up in any negativity, whatsoever. What a gift that is!
While others seem to “gripe,” and “grouse,” about everything and everyone. “Whiners!” “Complainers!”
(We’ve all been there, at least most of us have.)
We are MORE THAN CAPABLE of sliding into the negative. And sometimes, even into RELISHING IT. We are SO HUMAN.
But “pity parties” can only go on – for so long, and even WE TIRE OF THEM, then, we must break the cycle…and give OURSELVES and OTHERS a much needed respite and break.
The story of the cleansed lepers has all kinds of “take-aways” from it…
It is a recurring theme in Luke, God VALUES THE LEAST. God’s mercy IS FOR ALL. Luke never tires of reminding us of that…
I am no better…than the nine…boy, do I need a savior, someone to save me from myself!
While many times we expect people to show “gratitude or thankfulness,” THEY DO NOT.
Our EXPECTATIONS for “others” – can make us BITTER, especially when “others” DO NOT LIVE UP to our expectations “for them.”
Showing gratitude doesn’t COME EASY for a lot of folks…and we need to be aware of that.
Not everyone is going to say, “thank you!” YOU WILL NOT ALWAYS BE THANKED or appreciated! And that old sense of entitlement thing, it is for real.
Gratitude and Thankfulness beat grousing, grumbling, groaning and griping any day!
It’s all about the attitude!
Amen.