Like the Plague

In Sacrament Meeting today, one of our local missionaries gave a talk which included a parable that I had never heard before. The parable described a terrible plague sweeping the whole Earth, and doctors scrambling to find a cure. Eventually, they find a way to produce a cure, but it would require a great deal of blood from someone who had the right blood type and who had not yet been infected. The story goes that a man brings his family in to be tested, and it's discovered that his son has the right blood type and not a single trace of the plague in his blood. If the doctors extract the child's blood, they could use it to save countless lives, but losing that much blood would almost certainly kill the child.

The parable is meant to evoke empathy for our Heavenly Father, who had to sacrifice His Holy Son to save us from our sins, but I latched on to a different part of the parable, the part that related sin to a plague.

While there are many obvious differences between sin and plagues, there are some interesting similarities. For one thing, sin is contagious. When people are observed commit sin, they take a step toward normalizing that sin and thus spreading the contagion to others. Secondly, sin is deadly, at least to our spirits. If we catch the plague of sin, our immortal souls will be in serious jeopardy, and there's a fair chance we'll be quarantined out of heaven. Thirdly, sin can be difficult to treat. So plagues are curable, but most plagues resist treatment, and while repentance is always possible, it is rarely easy.

In either case, our best defense against sickness and sin is to not catch it in the first place. It's often best to avoid exposure to those who carry the illness and especially those who are not careful about trying not to spread it. For example, if we're concerned about catching the plague of breaking the Word of Wisdom, we would do well to avoid places where drugs, tobacco, and/or alcohol are sold and especially avoid those people who try to convince you to try them.

Of course, avoiding these plagues and their carriers is hardly possible in today's world. That's while it's important to immunize ourselves against such temptations as much as possible by making solemn vows not to break them. We must also ensure that we strengthen our immune systems through a healthy (spiritual) diet and a good amount of exercise.

Thinking of sin as a plague is fitting and helpful. Fitting because it functions much like a plague in how it spreads across the world, infacting as many people as possible, and fitting because it gives us some tips for how to avoid and resist sin and temptation, with the most important tip being to make sure that, to the greatest extent possible, we avoid sin like the plague.