Avoiding Illness

"Elliot, why don't you sit over there on the couch?"  I asked him, as I watched him try to squeeze into a chair next to his three year old sister, who wasn't having any part of sharing her seat.

"I can't sit there!"  He said.

I looked at the couch.  It was completely empty of occupants and I could see no pythons, wolverines, or other terrifying creatures lying in wait for unsuspecting sofa sitters.  "I think you probably can," I told him.

"No!"  He said.  "Vince was sitting there before supper and I don't want to catch what he has."

Vince has been sick, running a fever and just not feeling like himself.  Elliot, knowing that febrile illnesses are caused by germs, was trying to avoid them as much as possible, while still living in the same house as the diseased individual.  I could just imagine coming home from work the next day to find him making a pile of Vince's things to burn them, like they did with the toys at the end of the Velveteen Rabbit.

"I think," I said, in what I hoped was a rational sounding voice.  "If you want to avoid germs, probably the best way is to start washing your hands more regularly.  That seems to work pretty well to stop the spread of contagious illnesses.  How many times did you wash your hands today, Elliot?"

He was silent for a bit.  "I think once,"  he said, pretty honestly.  "After I fed the dog and cat, I know I washed them.  But washing hands is different.  It would take terribly much time to wash them all of the time.  I'd rather just stay away from germs."

Elliot clearly has some concept of the germ theory of disease.  He also has a fear of getting sick.  The problem is that the things he does to ward off illness -- things like not sitting in a seat his brother occupied a couple of hours before -- aren't nearly as helpful as just washing his hands.

There is no doubt that it is easier to prevent illness than to treat it after it happens.  At the same time, I see people all of the time who choose to not take care of their chronic illnesses, not get routine screening tests, and who avoid vaccinations who show up at my office asking me to help them with something that is far worse than it needed to be.

Of course I will do whatever I can to help them.  Although, I will often gently mention to someone running a 102 fever, "Maybe you should get a flu vaccine next year."

Far more important, Jesus has set out for us a pattern to live by.  Purity in thought and action, love in word and deed, and a focus on Him are all things that we are called to do and when we follow this path, we avoid all kinds of evil.  Our relationships with others are simply better when we choose to follow this simple path.

It isn't an easy road, but it is the most successful at warding off evil and bringing real joy into our lives and that's far more important than avoiding your brother's virus.