Thoughts from Luke 17:11-19

Today in my Bible reading of the 10 lepers, a commentator asked, “What could be worse than forced isolation?” I had never considered the question. I had focused on the lessons learned in the recount of their miraculous healing. I paused to consider the implications of the question. My mind drifted to the COVID pandemic. In March of 2020, the first quarantines were mandated. COVID caused death. People were frightened. There was widespread panic. People avoided one another. We were forced into isolation. The emotional and spiritual results crippled individuals. I avoided COVID until January of 2024. It insidiously crept in unnoticed to complicate my multifocal pneumonia. This triggered acute respiratory failure.

During the early days of my hospitalization, my room was bombarded with doctors, nurses, and therapists. The number of “professional” visitors each day became my indicator of recovery. I knew I was recovering when the lab techs became my most frequent visitor. Whoever entered my hospital room was veiled in a protective shield. Each person was draped in blue or yellow garb protecting themselves from a contaminated, contagious individual. My door remained shut 24 hours a day. I remembered dutifully wearing isolation garments as a respiratory therapist. I was unaware of the emotional and social isolation a patient felt. I questioned whether I had truly empathized with the plight of an isolated patient.

Isolation followed me home from the hospital. I was immunocompromised, on continuous oxygen, and too debilitated to care for myself. COVID pneumonia lingered. My son was home from Colorado for a month to care for me. After Ken returned to Colorado Springs, Cyndy (my sister) came twice a day for weeks. Home health nurses and physical therapists were welcomed visitors. Friends left meals on the porch and communicated through text messages. I questioned when, if ever, I would return to church. Would I return to normal? Would I work again? Sleep was a beautiful respite from the emotional captivity and social isolation. No, I can’t fathom the life of the lepers. My illness dims significantly in comparison to theirs.

Lepers were declared unclean because of their serious skin condition. Being diagnosed with leprosy was a death sentence, physically, socially, economically, and spiritually. The unclean, contagious leper was completely shunned from the community. Lepers were banned from holding a job. They were not permitted to live among the healthy – including their families. Lepers were prohibited from worship in the temple or any synagogue. Lepers were alone in a way I can’t relate to. Yet, nothing would prevent the lepers from meeting with Jesus.

Indeed, I can relate to their meeting with Jesus! He spoke healing into their lives. One grateful leper returned and worshiped Jesus. A few months later, I returned to the church and Sunday School class, which consistently prayed for me. I returned to work. I serve an amazing God who meets our every need.