In the ninth-century Welsh poem “Claf Abercuawg,” the concept of separation takes on a new meaning: Christians believe we are all separated from God through our own sinfulness, an illness as total and as painful as the leper’s. We long to climb the summit of a bright hill, to find unity with God in heaven, but we find our own weakness continually works against the attempt. By our sin, and our consequent affliction, we have created a gulf between us and God that we cannot cross…. But with God’s grace, all things are possible, and even the shame and solitude of exile can appear as a gift.

Alienated from the human world and the natural one, the leper draws near to God.