Lice Lessons

*Note: side effects of this post might include itchy scalp, creepy crawly sensations, and paranoia. *

Wednesday was not a good day at Funda Cor. I’ll spare you the details, but, long story short, I arrived at the orphanage fairly confident that I had contracted head lice from the kids. Internally FREAKING OUT, I calmly asked the cuidadores if piojos (lice) were a major issue at Funda Cor.

They laughed at me.

I’m pretty sure I almost cried. Although it seems obvious, somehow it had never occurred to me that lice would be an issue. But clearly it was. The women proceeded to tell me how tons of the kids have it. Apparently, “ Es inevidable.” Awesome. A warning would’ve been nice.

You scratching your head yet?

Anyway…I spent the rest of the afternoon at a distance from the kids, scrutinizing their scalps at every opportunity, and wishing the clock would move a little faster so I could leave and go inspect my head.

Back at my homestay, I used a lice treatment shampoo (if it makes you feel any better, Mare, it was a more natural version than the normal stuff) and a super fine toothed comb that basically gave me an afro, but I found no sign of the little monsters. My host mom didn’t find anything either, but I’m still not confident. I’m just hoping to survive the next 3 days and have a real head check from my real madre. And I’m praying the leper’s prayer: “Lord if you are willing, you can make me clean!!” (Luke 5:12).

Now, you’re probably wondering why I told you all that. Lice is typically something you keep on the DL. It’s kind of embarrassing…pretty gross… But as I sat in church last night, I realized some stuff about head lice. And I figured I might as well share. I might as well make something good come of this miserable itching. So here it goes…

Lice are like sin. In a lot of ways actually. Think about it; these little bugs can crawl around on your head for weeks before you notice. They’re basically invisible until they get bad enough that you feel the itching. But all along, they’re sucking your blood.

Okay, I’m sorry. I know this is really gross, but isn’t our sin just as awful?! We get caught in these sins that can seem like no big deal, yet as time goes on, they slowly steal away the life we were meant to have in Christ. The consequences can be invisible for weeks or even years, but eventually, they will surface.

It’s more than that, though. People with head lice try to hide it just like we hide our sin. It’s shameful. We don’t want anyone to know that we’re contaminated. We feel dirty.

And getting rid of it is easier said than done.

To eliminate head lice, first you have to admit that you have it. If you try to deny it or ignore it, it will just keep getting worse. Eventually, you’ll either be so itchy you can’t stand it, or someone else will bring your problem into the light. Then, once you admit that you have it, you’ve got to accept that you can’t deal with it yourself. Someone else has to do the nit picking (if you’re unfamiliar with lice, that’s the part where you go through every section of hair with a fine toothed comb to pick out all the tiny, little eggs). In the same way, we cannot rid ourselves of our sin. We can try, and it might seem like it's working, but only God can truly make us clean.

And there’s more. You can’t just get rid of the lice on your head. You’ve gotta wash your sheets and pillow and clothes and everything that has been touched by the little beasts. You can’t keep leaning your head against the people that gave you the lice, or you’re just going to catch it again. A lice free environment is as important as a lice free head.

Similarly, if we want to be free of sin, we can’t keep returning to the same places or people that cause us to stumble. If I repent of gossip and go back to the same gossipy friends, I will probably return to my gossiping. If I repent of drinking but still have a cabinet of booze, I probably won’t last long without returning to the bottle. Eliminating the problem won’t happen with a halfhearted effort.

I’m sorry if I’ve grossed you out or made your head super itchy, but this is a big deal! The most frustrating thing about (possibly) having lice in Buenos Aires has been that the people here are so nonchalant about it. They say it’s nothing to worry about. Everyone has it here. It’s inevitable. But sin tells us those same lies!

I don’t care if everyone else in the world has head lice! If there are bugs living on my head and sucking out my blood, that is NOT okay! And neither is my sin! I want it GONE!

So maybe you don’t have lice on your head. I actually really hope you don't because it's quite unpleasant.  But either way, you have sin in your heart. So don't take it lightly. This is war!!

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Eph 6:12)