Forgetting West Nile

My body has forgotten West Nile.

Well, part of it has.  I got some blood tests back recently that showed I no longer have IgM (short-term) or IgG (long-term) antibodies to the West Nile virus.  Meaning, that after 11 years, I’ve almost certainly lost my immunity to the virus (if I ever had it).  If I were to get bitten by another infected mosquito, I would probably get sick again.  Even though the virus and the antibodies are out of my system, I still suffer from it – the fatigue, the headaches, the slow healing.

I feel like there’s something blog-worthy here, but I can’t quite get at it.  My body has “forgotten” the virus, but I still suffer the effects of the disease.

I’ve forgotten the culprit, but retain the injury.

The castle is damaged, but it’s given up the defense.

I’m kind of upset with my immune system.  How could it forget this thing that caused us years of pain?

I have no resolution to these thoughts yet.  Let me know if you come up with anything.

Part 2.

The Church has MS

The Church is the body of Christ.
…made of imperfect people.
Lately I’ve noticed the dissension within this body. People within the same church deciding not to be friends. People leaving small groups because of clashing personalities. People burnt out by what other church members have placed on them.

It’s like our body is attacking itself, as a human body with MS does. In MS, the body’s immune system attacks the central nervous system, causing progressive neurological effects. Instead of fighting outside attackers, the immune system attacks the body it’s supposed to protect.

Why do we do that in the Church, the very body of Christ? We hurt and are hurt by the very people that are supposed to help us defend each other against “the world.”