It Is Written About Leprosy

It is written about leprosy:

"Being contagious and unclean persons, lepers were supposed to isolate themselves from others, demonstrate their impurity and warn people of their illness. They had to wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of their faces and shout 'Unclean!"

I realized as I was out in public today, taking part in a couple of essential appointments, we are suddenly all lepers. As I approached the few people who were out, they quite demonstrably moved to a path that avoided me. Almost as if I was shouting "unclean."

As I look down at my hands, now 74 skin layers deep from obsessive and compulsive handwashing, I realize - in many ways - we are all lepers. 

There is some humor in that, for sure.
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There is also an opportunity for empathy. What many of us are facing now, challenges that are unique to us, others have been battling a long time. For them, the greatest sadness of this all is the lack of anything new and unique.