Loving the Leper

The little boy stared at me, four years old, standing on his tip-toes, his eyes peaking in through the upper half of the door – glass smeared with sticky hand-prints. Half sheepish and hopeful, half cunning and sly – trying to sneak in, to play with the kids, while also knowing that he was not allowed to. This boy had a rash of some sort. Tiny little blisters and red dots, covered his arms and legs – exposed due to the attire that comes with the warmth of summer. The problem was, no one knew exactly what the marks were. No one knew if they were contagious. Parents didn’t want their kids coming to the Children’s House if this boy was there. It was against the rules anyway, for children who were sick to come to the Children’s House, not because we want to be exclusive, but because it’s common sense, if you don’t want every kid there to get sick. But, regardless of the ‘rules’, this little boy still appeared in the Children’s House every day. We tried telling him he had to go home, but he would continually re-appear – his eyes peaking in through the window, waiting for the right moment to slip in. Some adults were saddened by his predicament, but most agreed that he should not be there, interacting closely with the other kids. I myself was scared about touching him too much – fearing that the rash, or whatever it was, might spread to me, but also knowing that if he couldn’t be at the children’s house, his next option was home, where he would be ignored, or maybe even alone, or playing on the street. As I watched him sneak in every time, something interesting happened. The other kids, who usually either fight with, or ignore him, quickly ran over to play with him, holding his hands, spinning in circles with him, not thinking for a second, to shun him, or avoid contact with him because of his sickness. They weren’t scared of interacting with him because of his rash, but rather, it seemed quite on the contrary – they seemed drawn to him because of his sickness! Maybe it’s just because little kids like rebelling against what their elders tell them to do, but I can’t say that I ever told any of the kids not to touch, or play with that boy.

It was an eye-opening thing, to see how the children’s lack of fear allowed them to better befriend this young boy while everyone else was telling him to leave, or go home, or trying carefully not to touch his skin. I still don’t think having a sick child in a daycare, where a bunch of other kids are, is a good idea (within the week I saw those same dots on two other little boys), but I do think we can learn something from the way they loved that boy who was covered in dots. Jesus didn’t fear the leper, or tell prostitutes to leave his presence. He embraced them. While I think we should take the caution not to contract the spiritual or physical diseases or sicknesses of those we have the opportunity to interact with, I think we also need to see past those things in order to love and serve God’s children as he calls us to. Like the kids at the Children’s House, who were innocent enough to run to the boy and hug him and hold his hands to play without the fear, or prejudice that comes with knowing someone is sick, we need to find the courage and strength in God, to overcome those fears and prejudices, so that we can interact with those in our lives – ‘diseased’ spiritually or physically (let’s face it, we are all diseased in some way or another) – in a loving, compassionate way.