When someone shared their cold with Sue Bohlin on a recent cruise, it made her think about how contagious we can be in different ways, for good and for bad.
Halfway through my last cruise, I suddenly became aware of my throat. That’s always my first sign of a cold, so I started popping zinc tablets every few hours to fight back. People share their germs on cruise ships, especially those with thousands of passengers; contagion is just a fact of life. I wasn’t surprised.
Many people are now more aware of social contagion. Just like colds and flu, we can easily “catch” other people’s feelings and behaviors and beliefs.
Like anger. Proverbs 22:24-25 warns us, “Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person, do not associate with one easily angered, or you may learn their ways and get yourself ensnared.”
Like entitlement. The proliferation of short “Karen” videos putting self-centered entitlement on full display seems to have made this obnoxiousness multiply.
While these two rotten character traits have proven to be socially contagious, what is deeply heartbreaking to me is the social contagion of teens (and even younger) identifying as transgender. Adolescence is hard and awkward for just about anyone, but when kids are addicted to social media and never put their phones down, the “trans disease” (for lack of a better term) sweeps through schools and classes and friend groups, picking up steam as it picks off youth struggling with who they are and afraid of who they are supposed to become.
Recently, when reading in 1 Samuel. I was struck by the people of Israel telling the last judge, Samuel, “Give us a king to judge us like all the other nations have.” (8:5)
Well, what do you know? Social contagion in the Old Testament!
I have been especially aware of the power of contagion ever since our family doctor asked me once, “You live with two depressed men (my husband and our son), and depression is contagious. What are you doing to protect yourself?”
I laughed, “As it happens, I just got off a short cruise with my sister. Four solid days of joy and laughter and fun with no depression in sight.” She said, “You need to do that regularly.” (And I do. Which is one reason I am “the cruise queen.”)
I didn’t realize depression could be contagious, but it makes sense. Because a number of negative things can be quite contagious. As my other son, who owns several specialty coffee cafés in San Francisco assures me, critical speech and gossip can be contagious. Some of his baristas had absorbed bad habits from each other and it’s heartbreaking.
Negativity is contagious. Like wearing sunglasses indoors, a negative mindset can manifest in someone’s words and even micro-expressions, coloring the thinking and reactions of those around them.
But you know what?
Gratitude can also be contagious.
Lightheartedness can be contagious.
Courtesy can be contagious.
Complimenting and affirming others can be contagious.
Generosity. Enthusiasm. Vulnerability, Laughter.
Even faith.
Contagion, it seems, can be bad . . . or beautiful.
Sue Bohlin
Sue Bohlin is an associate speaker/writer and webmistress for Probe Ministries. She attended the University of Illinois, and has been a Bible teacher and conference speaker for over 40 years. She is a speaker for MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) and Stonecroft Ministries (Christian Women's Connections), and serves on the board of Living Hope Ministries, a Christ-centered outreach to those dealing with unwanted homosexuality. Sue is on the Bible.org Women's Leadership Team and is a regular contributor to Bible.org's Engage Blog. In addition to being a professional calligrapher, she is the wife of Probe's Dr. Ray Bohlin and the mother of a son in San Francisco and another son who joined his baby sister in heaven in 2024.. Her personal website is suebohlin.com.
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