When the Homily is about Immunology

Sin, Chaos, and Blame

Biological systems can be amazingly complex. Far too complex for my simple little mind to wholly grasp – I can vividly recall sitting in classrooms listening to lectures on cellular immunology and their various pathways, and laughing out loud at the absurd complexity of it all. No doubt it drives us researchers mad when testing a new drug, because really we can never be entirely sure of how it might affect the thousands of interwoven chemical pathways that work within us. Professor Behe has done an excellent job of arguing for “Intelligent Design” by saying that such pathways are “irreducibly complex” and that their evolution in slow progressive steps is impossible to imagine. But, I digress.

Incredibly intricate biological pathways cannot help but remind me of Chaos theory, which as I feebly understand it, purports that on a world-wide scale we also have thousands of complex interwoven pathways (most of which we cannot identify as of yet) such that the possibility of a butterfly going aloft in Indonesia setting in motion the winds necessary for a hurricane in the South Pacific is made real. And this in turn cannot help but remind me of sin.

It seems that if Chaos Theory fits well with the Orthodox understanding of sin and how all of our sins affect the entire world and do much more (and much worse) than bestow law-breaking guilt upon our souls. It kills us and the world, by its very nature! Imagine THAT the next time you rationalize about that little bothersome sin you indulge in the “privacy” of your own home. Reading The Brothers brought all of this to mind when Elder Zosima bestows to us his thoughts and teachings:

My brother, a dying youth, asked the birds to forgive him. That may sound absurd, but when you think of it, it makes sense. For everything is like the ocean, all things flow and are indirectly linked together, and if you push here, something will move at the other end of the world. It may be madness to beg the birds for forgiveness, but things would be easier for the birds, for the child, for every animal if you were nobler than you are.

And so, is there really such a thing as “privacy” when it comes to sin? The modern cultural belief, which espouses that whatever people want to do, as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else, is okay, is rendered moot is it not? It is ALL the world’s business what people do – even in the privacy of their bedrooms!

Ahhh, but ever true to the spirit of Orthodoxy, before we pick up the phones to call our legislators and demand that such and such bedroom laws be passed, Fyodor - through Elder Zosima - has further advice:

If the evil deeds of men sadden you too greatly and arouse in you an anger you cannot overcome and fill you with the desire to wreak vengeance on the evil-doers – fear this feeling most of all, and at once go and seek suffering for yourself, because you too are responsible for the evil deeds of all men.