You won’t believe it! I have the Chicken Pox, (varicella zoster virus) I thought I was safe from that awful virus, I am 21 years old for crying out loud. So, I wake up early Sunday morning feeling as if a plane had just landed on my body. I was dizzy, had a headache, my temperature was through the roof, and I had two pimple like substances on my neck. I end up going to the Emergency Room and the Dr. says “Yep, you have the chickenpox.” Since it was new, they gave me an anti-viral (Acyclovir). The Doc must have forgotten to tell me that for the next couple of days I would be living a nightmare!
I am transferred out of Old College into Moreau Seminary, into a nice little room all by myself. I wake up the next day. I have them all over my neck and chest. Next day. My face, my stomach, my arms, my back, and even my butt! Little, nasty, itching, red, draining, scabbing sores-everywhere! By far, the worse pain I had ever felt. I hurt, I itch, and I am supposed to start school up again this week. I am miserable and feverish.
To make matters worse, there is a tornado alert going on in South Bend? Leaves are flying all over the place, the phones are ringing telling me that I should seek shelter, ducks are being flipped upside down, and the alarms are howling throughout the campus. How did I go from illustrious hot, dry, climate of Phoenix, to sticky, cold, tornado watch South Bend?
At this point I’m starting to feel like Job (Biblical Figure)- sad, disgusting, tired, and disappointed. So, I go online and start playing pacman! This was by far the most peaceful thing because I imagined myself as pacman; eating away all of the little pac dots (chicken pox) it was my revenge. As you can imagine being in a room with no contact with the outside the world can take a toll on you mentally. What better way to curb ones enthusiasm about having chicken pox by learning how to do the Chicken Dance?
I still have the chicken pox, however, it is slowly healing. So what lessons can be learned from this experience? God is with you--no matter what! I find myself staring at the crucifix over my bed, and its comforting to know that in the midst of my frustration and anger, I can still come to God. Come to the healer, you disgusting mound of sores! So when a Christinan suffers whether it is from spiritual or physical it doesn’t matter whether the suffering is the consequence of sin or not.All that matters is that all suffering be accepted and carried as one’s cross. Let it be a testament to God’s glory and a penance for all the sins that nailed Christ to the cross. Christ endured all suffering for our redemption, so, as we bear our suffering gracefully, we share the burden of the cross with Christ. Let all suffering end in love. Let us meditate on the words of James 1:2-4:
Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
