It felt like I had been hit in the stomach. I just couldn't believe my ears when I heard that there had been another outbreak of foot and mouth.

I am not a farmer and I admit that the only inconvenience to me personally, last time foot and mouth hit, was having my car disinfected regularly, but I found the whole experience devastating. I have many friends who farm who were on a knife-edge for months and I found myself glued to the news on their behalf. Somehow, despite the horrific pictures we are now used to seeing, the scale of the destruction of animals was simply horrendous, and the pain of human lives being ripped apart unimaginable. The thought of all of that happening again was painful to a degree that it was almost physical.

It is extraordinary that an invisible virus, that apparently can be carried out on a scientist's shoe and according to defra's website is almost always is non-fatal, can have such a devastating effect on almost inconceivably vast numbers of animals. Purity in a national herd is so important that we will pay almost any price to achieve it, when it comes to a disease such as this. Unless you are a farmer or a vet you probably would have as little idea as I would whether a particular animal was infected. However, the infection is there and it must be dealt with.

The spiritual analogy here is stark, isn't it? When the Bible talks about sin we take some persuading that it matters. Why should anyone mind if we live in a way that is out of kilter with God's plans for us? It doesn't appear fatal, many people couldn't tell that we are, and the sin itself is almost invisible. But it does matter, and God will go to any length to purify us... for with sin there is a cure. Costly, horrific, and involving death, though it does, there is a way to purity. The question is whether you want it...