Sickness or Sin?

Its just a slight cough. Its just a runny nose, just....an ulcer, just....heart disease, just...cancer. All the result of poor diet, lack of excercise, bad life choices, and not listening to our mother's when they tried to teach us to wash our hands before we ate our dinner. Or could these actually be the result of sin? Garland made a good point in his commentary on Mark 2:1-12. The parlytic man let through the roof was paralyzed because of sin. Even as I read the commentary I could not help but hate the idea. But I had to ask myself why I hated it so much. Perhaps it is because I do not like to face the facts. Perhaps I don't want to face physical consequences for my sins...or consequences period. Who does. Who wakes up in the morning saying, "I hope I sin today so that I can face up to the horrible physical, emotional, or spiritual consequences the sin may bring!"? But the fact is, sickness can be caused by sin. Garland, however, does make sure to say that we should not be so quick to deal out judgment on people just because they are sick, lest we become like Job's friends. But, just the same, perhaps we should not be so quick to toss the idea that some sin equals sickness just because modern science has all the answers.