We all have periods of desperation. We can be desperate for money, relationships, comfort or any number of fleshly needs. As Christians, we need to ask, "Are we desperate for Jesus?"
Its symptoms start in the skin and peripheral nervous system (outside the brain and spinal cord), then spread to other parts, such as the hands, feet, face, and earlobes. Patients with leprosy experience disfigurement of the skin and bones, twisting of the limbs, and curling of the fingers to form the characteristic claw hand. Facial changes include thickening of the outer ear and collapsing of the nose.
"In Christ's day no leper could live in a walled town, though he might in an open village. But wherever he was he was required to have his outer garment rent as a sign of deep grief, to go bareheaded, and to cover his beard with his mantle, as if in lamentation at his own virtual death. He had further to warn passers-by to keep away from him, by calling out, `Unclean! unclean!' nor could he speak to any one, or receive or return a salutation, since in the East this involves an embrace."