There have been many conversations about infectious diseases lately and how germs spread.  We hear it in the news with reports of the bird flu virus around the world and flu epidemics sprouting up throughout the Puget Sound. I started thinking of all the ways we become infected in life and how someone can be contagious.

The truth is we are all contagious, even when we are healthy.  I am not referring to the physical germs and viruses we spread to each other, but instead the spreading of faith and positive attitude wherever we go. 

The reality is that people around you are catching your attitude. Indeed, people can feel ‘sick’ from being around you or they can feel better and more alive because they have been exposed to you.  St. Clement of Alexandria said: "The perfect Christian is always a bearer of peace and joy."

General Eisenhower revealed an important understanding of leadership when he told his troops, "Optimism and pessimism are infectious and they spread more rapidly from the head downward than in any other direction."

Truly, a husband or wife infects his or her spouse by the attitude–positive or negative–each brings into the home­. If you're wondering why he or she is acting in a way you don't like, maybe you should look in the mirror for the answer.  A parent spreads their attitude of joy, faith and love to their children.  The same occurs with a boss and his employees, a worker and his or her co-workers, a priest and those who serve with him. Friends infect other friends with the health or the sickness of their attitude and loving energy.

Fr. Paisios, a monk from Mount Athos, said that we are to be like radio receivers tuning into the frequency of God’s love and compassion in prayer.  There is a story of a loving, wise, and pious elder who was asked by a little boy why he always had a gentle, caring, joyous attitude.  The elder responded, “My sweet child, I have at every moment within me a roaring lion and a gentle lamb.  Which of the two emerges depends on which one I decide to feed.  I decide to feed the loving lamb.”  We also must ask God to have mercy on us and to give us strength to choose the noble, the pure, the excellent, the lovely things in life.                                                      

Lent is truly a joyous time as we are encouraged to become infected with God's abundant grace and love.  The church challenges us to transform our attitude through tools of worship, confession, prayer, reading scriptures, fasting, almsgiving and the act of forgiving others.  Let us be examples to one another!

We are icons, images of God, who need polishing, who need to be reminded to have an attitude that glorifies God and shares His love and joy.  We are called to be like the moon that reflects the light given by the sun.  We must make a daily decision to become “Christophoree" or  “Christ bearers”.  

 As we become Christ-like, we develop a faith that no war, no darkness, no natural disaster, no health issue, not even death will keep us away from God.  We must want and ask God to help us live with the spirit of humility, patience, and love as we faithfully recite the Lenten prayer of Saint Ephraim. Lent serves as an opportunity to make a U-turn and head back home toward God, in His Kingdom, in His embrace, in His Church. Don’t miss this opportunity for spiritual renewal!

Have a blessed Lenten journey preparing your soul to be contagious with God’s love!

+ Fr. Tom