Why Ticks?

As a girl, one of the book series I liked to read were the Dear America pseudo diaries ostensibly written by girls in the given years stamped on the diary. I was disappointed when I realized the girls were made up – I had, initially, thought the little novels were actual biographies. The naivete of youth gave way to facts and reality quite quickly, but I still enjoyed the books. One of my favorites in the series was published in 1997 and titled A Picture of Freedom: Diary of Clotee, a Slave Girl – Belmont Plantation, Virginia, 1859. The book was set in my home state in a time I was relatively familiar with, and I even got to use it as part of a grade school project. So it remains a feature of my memory for those reasons.

One particular “diary entry” from Clotee, the heroine of the book, has stuck with me down through the years. It is on page 52 under the simple heading of Monday and reads: “I just got one thing to ask – Why did God let mosquitoes get on the ark?”

Even as a child, I laughed and agreed! Mosquitoes are an annoyance, and though I heard that you could catch fevers they transmitted via bite (this was the time the West Nile Virus was in the news, if memory serves), all I had ever received from a mosquito was a welt that itched and that I had to not scratch for fear of making it bleed and become infected. So to me, mosquitoes were an irritant, not something to fear.

That distinction belongs to ticks.

Reports this summer have been that ticks are out in force this year. I have been told by people that they have walked through tall grass and come out with eight ticks each. When I have to go into places with tall grass, I make sure to take precautions. Lyme Disease is an old fear but I have known no less than three people who, on experiencing Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, became severely allergic to meat from four-footed animals. Without disregarding the diseases transmitted by mosquitoes, such as Yellow Fever and malaria, the fact remains that ticks bring their own deadly diseases as well – illnesses for which we have no cure.

Endemic to regions with high humidity and heat, ticks are the natural vampires of the world, surviving primarily on blood. Deer ticks are the largest and easiest to spot but there are many smaller types as well. Animals pick up and carry them and since the arachnids always go for dark, moist spots on the body (human or animal, and even reptile) getting them off after they have attached can be difficult. Sometimes removing the head does not work or only partially works, too, so it is not hard to see why I would modify Clotee’s question after a few years: Why did God let ticks on the ark?

There are scientific reasons, of course, same as there are for mosquitoes: ticks are a food source, they help control animal populations, et cetera. But when you or someone you know has Lyme Disease or is struggling with the after effects of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, such pat answers do not help very much. At least Yellow Fever and malaria have counter-agents, whether they took a long time to find or not. It also does not answer the question of why God would let ticks survive into the present, or why He made them in the first place. What good are these little vampires when they cause so much consternation, suffering, and fear?

Of course, the correct answer is, we don’t know. Knowing the mind of the Infinite in this case, as in all others, is impossible. God hasn’t told us why He made ticks or lets them cause so much damage anymore than He has told us why he permits disease or famine or other disasters, personal or at scale. As He told Job, how can we fathom why He allows these things to happen, He Who made the deep waters and the ant, as well as man and woman?

We cannot, but that doesn’t mean we should give up and let ticks rule our lives or not try to find a way to deal with Lyme Disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. It means we take precautions when we go out in the grass, such as putting our pant legs in our socks, or spraying on insect repellent, or just staying out of the tall grass and checking for ticks after we have been in it. Rather than give up, we adapt and work around the problem.

Sin and occasions of sin requires a similar attitude; I know someone who repels most insects whenever he goes out. They just don’t seem interested in him, whereas another person I know is practically a tick magnet. Precautions the one does not apparently need, the other should take.

Likewise, for some people, something is not an occasion or gateway to sin. If a person is prepared for a particular thing or not sensitive to it, or has developed strategies around it, he will be fine. But if a person is a “magnet” for trouble of that kind, then that item may be an occasion of sin for him.

What can be applied to ticks can be applied to other things as well. Someone may have no interest in liquor or bars and be the designated driver for his friends, while another might have a weakness for alcohol and thus be better off not setting foot inside a brewery or a bar. There is no one-size-fits-all deterrent for sin anymore than there is for ticks and, like with ticks, you may not be able to keep them off or avoid ALL sin. Everyone is a sinner, and sometimes we don’t know what particular “tick” for which we are a magnet. It might be drinking, it might be anime, or it might be selfishness, ill temper, or covetousness. Once we discover that weakness in ourselves, though, we have to take precautions for ourselves. Not for others.

Liquor is not going to cause everyone the same issues it will a teetotaler. There are some people who simply cannot get drunk even when they try, and there are others who can get drunk just by drinking water to excess. Banning water or alcohol isn’t going to stop them from getting drunk, but their taking specific precautions for themselves will have an affect.

Michaelangelo famously had no problem with nudity and got revenge on the Pope’s master of ceremonies, who vehemently disagreed. In 1565, some of Michaelangelo’s images in the Sistine Chapel were given loincloths for decency because so many people cried against the nakedness on display. Were they right or wrong? The painter who accomplished this still has “the derisive nickname of il braghettone, or the britches-maker” after doing what the offended asked and what others either didn’t mind or worked around.

Perhaps, as with ticks, it is less a matter of “Why did God let them on the ark?” and more a question of, “How are we going to work around this?” Yellow Fever was a killer until we found a way to inoculate against the disease. Malaria still kills many, though we have means of stopping it now. We cannot eradicate these diseases from the earth but we can find ways of making their threat less and a cure for those who contract such diseases.

So maybe the question isn’t “why did God let mosquitoes/ticks on the ark” and more “why did He let man on the ark”? Man, who causes so much trouble for himself as well as his fellow man, has less excuse than a tick for his sins. At least a tick is biologically constructed to drink blood to survive. Man is not made for drink, or to be selfish, or to be angry all the time. If he chooses these things, that is on him, not those who struggle with these and take precautions against these proclivities.

Watch out for ticks this season. They are not all easy to spot – particularly if they are proclivities you may not realize that you have and should curb. Remember that Deet will repel ticks, to put your pant legs in your socks, and to receive the Sacrament of Penance when you sin. Like ticks, sin is always there, and sometimes your precautions do not help. When that happens, you need a priest, just like someone with a tick bite that has given them Lyme Disease needs a doctor. Be vigilant and do your best – then let God do the rest!