DENYING OUTSIDE INTRUDERS
The cautionary parable of the bacteria that causes Lyme disease
There's a bacterium called Borrelia burgdorferi that's been causing a lot of grief lately.
In the body of a small mammal or bird, it poses no problems, but the story changes when it enters a human body. One bite from a tick that has previously fed on one of these mammals or birds is all it takes for infection to set in.
Once the parasite enters our bodies, it reproduces and leads to Lyme disease. For most, the effects of the infection are minimal and short term, but for some, the effects can be life-altering — all due to the corrupting activities of a tiny, nefarious and elusive bacterium.
After an in-depth interview with University of Calgary researcher, Dr. George Chaconas, I was struck by how the destructive ways of this bacterium echoed those of spiritual corruption: bacteria as a biological cautionary tale.
Borrelia burgdorferi are masters of disguise. To avoid detection by our immune systems, they change an outer protein on a regular basis and remain unseen. They cloak themselves and hide in a physiological blind spot. In one of Chaconas's videos you can actually see the immune system's neutrophils pass right by these destructive intruders — as though they weren't there.
Years ago, I read C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity and was laid bare by the opening words of his chapter on the parasitic nature of pride: “There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which everyone in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else; and of which hardly any people, except Christians, ever imagine that they are guilty themselves.”
The deadly sin of pride (the self filled with self ) hides in a psychological blind spot and will do anything to avoid detection — just like Borrelia burgdorferi.
As these cloaked bacteria course through our bloodstreams, they find a way to cling to the walls of our veins and arteries and then break through into various parts of our bodies. Chaconas describes this adhering capacity as being like Velcro. It's only by sticking around that these bacteria can then cause real havoc.
The same can be said of our thoughts. The bad things we do — spouting angry words, grabbing an outsized piece of the economic pie, inappropriately flirting with others — are often the result of choosing to entertain unhealthy thoughts longer than we should. By letting them hang around, we give them a chance to stick to our souls.
In the biblical story of Cain and Abel, Cain's envious thoughts toward his brother elicit a warning from God, “Sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” (Genesis 4:7) It's hard to rule over our thoughts and to live with internal integrity, but if we don't, the negative consequences can be serious. For Cain it led to murder.
When Borrelia burgdorferi break through the vascular wall, they then cause an inflammatory response in our bodies.
For many, the effects of the inflammation can be as problematic as the infection itself — extreme tiredness, joint stiffness, and headaches.
While we have no choice in how our bodies respond to bacterial interlopers, we do have a choice when it comes to how we handle negative intrusive thoughts. If dealt with properly, perhaps this could help with the “spiritual inflammation” many of us experience.
Carrying dark thoughts while putting on a good face can be exhausting, a recipe for feelings of incongruence, self-condemnation and a lack of inner peace.
This is not what we're made for. Christianity teaches that God made humans to be whole and integrated beings. Yet so much of what we feel is disintegration.
When the parasites of pride, envy, anger or lust enter our systems, and our consciences trigger a spiritual inflammatory response, perhaps we should see the discomfort as a gift — a signal that something's not right.
Once we've picked up the signal, hopefully we can find healing.
But for this to occur, we need to start at the source. Just as science needs to clearly understand the nature of Borrelia burgdorferi, we need to understand spiritual parasites for what they are — outside intruders that, if we let them, can rob us of life.
John Van Sloten is a community theologian working to engage God everywhere — through science, art, work, sport, education, politics and everything else.