On Sin and Sickness

A few days ago, I woke up feeling (in my dad’s Iowa-farmer lexicon) “like I’d been drug through a plowed field.” I didn’t feel sick, just exhausted— the kind of tiredness you feel just before crashing at the end of the day. I forced myself up to see my husband off to work, but all morning I fought with fits of anxiety and weepiness bordering on panic. Around noon I read my Bible in bed for a while, and then the next thing I remember was waking up three hours later. 

That’s when I realized: “Wait, I never take naps during the day. Huh. I really am sick.” This was a huge relief— if I was going to feel that awful, I had better be sick!

Although the theology of original sin is something I’ve grown up with, it’s good to remember every once in a while what a freeing doctrine it is. People who take a good look at themselves— all the meanness and jealousy and selfishness and bitterness and pride— should be relieved to know that they are not “basically good.” If people are going to be this awful, we had better be sick!

So after my nap, I took it easy, and got plenty of rest, and remembered that the day is coming when sin and sickness will be banished— along with all the awfulness that comes in tow.

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