Unclean, unclean!

Come, you who are blessed by my Father … For I was hungry, and you fed me... I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me.

Matthew 25:34-36

Working in a hospital can be quite a morbid occupation. I was just now listening to the familiar rattle of the gurney as two morgue attendants pushed on their next patron, once a vivacious tyke, now all wrapped up in the garb of death. A solemn coda for a boisterous existence. He came in with much fanfare, now he leaves all alone. Joy at his entry, pain and bitterness as he leaves.

Working in the infectious diseases unit of the hospital, death has, sadly enough for me, become a very important part of life. The fastest means for any of my patients to leave the hospital is through the very curiously-named Ward Zero. The burden of HIV and AIDS cuts very deeply into the fabric of our society and it is too often ignored. No single ailment cuts down our life expectancy as does AIDS. It is ever present; you probably know someone who has to deal with it on a daily basis. But sadly, we seem to say too little about it and do even less.

Once upon a time, the Jews had such a scourge. They called it leprosy. Those who were so unfortunate as to suffer this skin infection were ostracized. A sign was hung on their necks and they would cry "unclean, unclean" as they walked by so no good Jew would be contaminated by touching them or, perhaps, by staring at them too long. Theirs was a sorry existence, at the mercy of society, of the priest, of God and precious few ever had anything to smile about. They would slowly but surely endure a rash, then lose feeling in their limbs and then watch helplessly as their fingers and toes fell of, one after the other. A gut-wrenching sentence for anyone who first heard the pronouncement, "unclean".

But then, sure as ever, Jesus steps in. The King of Glory comes down and walks among men. And his best friends? Look no further than the very outcasts of society. Do you remember Simon the Leper? Rivaled only by Mary and Martha in his hospitality; perhaps indeed he was their father. Don't now forget those ten men, crying their bothersome refrain at the Samarian border. "Unclean, unclean" they chant, until they meet the Master. And with a look and a word they are clean again.

Today, we have the opportunity to be Jesus to just such as these. People with little to be joyful about. What would Jesus do? He would touch them, he would love them, indeed he would heal them - body and soul. December 1 is World AIDS day. Let us take the opportunity to remind God about those whom society loves to hate, the very people He would love to love.

With love, Doosuur.