Why do we itch?

To be alive.

To stay healthy.

To remain human.

An itch is one form of irritation to which the human body responds. The irritation may come from outside in the form of clothing, chemicals, airborne pollutants, etc. I may also come from the inside in an irritation of a nerve by some part of the body systems. Whether the source is inside or outside, we itch. To itch is one sign that we are alive. If we can?t be irritated, we are dead.

Health is enhanced by itching. Like many other physical ailments, itching can be ignored. We learn to live with it. We work around it. We cover it up. The irritation, the itching  - to the degree that it gets through to us ? keeps us healthy. Things that irritate us get our attention, focus our energy, move us to act. The itching is a sign that something is wrong ? and we can do something about it. Itching helps us stay healthy.

Keeping on course as a human is not easy. Itching helps. It is so easy to learn how to ignore people, discount remarks, walk around obstacles. The itching comes back again and again to remind us of who we are, to let us know that we are capable of responding. Not itching = Not remaining human.

Thank God for itching!

Warren Wiggins, Pastor

St. Peter United Church of Christ

See Leviticus 13:29-37 for another view