Thought for Today

1 Kings 17:17 After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill; his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him.  

Isaiah 38:1 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, "Thus says the LORD: Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover."  

John 11:1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.

Luke 7:2 A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death.

This morning, I searched the Bible using my computer software to try to find Hantavirus. I know that computers cannot express exasperation, disgust or any other emotions, but I’ll swear that as I typed ‘hant’ into the search box, as the type turned red and began to blink, it did so in a very haughty, derisive manner.

If you are not familiar with the word hantavirus, you are either not from the desert southwest and/or you have somehow managed to create a ‘newsfree’ environment. Once again, a cruise ship has become infected with an outbreak of a deadly disease. Given our worldwide recent experience with a different pandemic, it is understandable that the news media are obsessed with this virus. The ‘experts’ assure us that hantavirus is much less easily transmitted, much less virulent than was COVID. Given all the recent turmoil at the CDC, it is not surprising that much of the reassurance is not reassuring to many.

It is difficult for many of the alphabet soup generations (X, Y, Z, millennial, etc.) to comprehend how different humanity’s experience with viruses, bacteria, diseases and pandemics has been historically. Those of us ‘of an age’ remember when the only vaccine in common use was the smallpox vaccine. Our generation was vaccinated against smallpox at a very early age; and, until very recently smallpox had been almost entirely eliminated.

Greta and I were raised in an area where polio was endemic. Many families had relatives or neighbors who contracted the disease, some as infants, some as adults. We both remember taking the first available vaccines when we were young.

When we were very young there were other highly contagious diseases that were somewhat common. Measles, mumps and chickenpox were also common. There were still diseases like yellow fever, scarlet fever and malaria. Modern ‘miracle’ drugs and effective vaccines have made many of those diseases much less common.

Imagine, however, what life was like before the 20th century. Even the causes of disease were not well understood, much less how to treat or prevent them. It is no wonder that we read in scripture, “Matthew 4:24 So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought to him all the sick, those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics, and he cured them.” There were fake healers, people who falsely claimed to be able to cure and heal . . . there still are. But, Jesus actually was able to do so. Sadly, then and now, some find such cures and healings impossible to believe, despite the evidence right before their eyes.

I find the current media obsession with the Hantavirus interesting. One of the more startling things I repeatedly hear is that there is no cure or preventative. All our modern medicine can do is treat the symptoms. The medical advances during my own lifetime have so conditioned my mind to the idea that there is a cure for everything that I find that admission surprising. I’m going to place the blame on television and all of the doctor shows which tell me that not only can they be cured, they can be cured in 60 minutes and still leave time for 45 minutes of commercials in a 1-hour show. Or, maybe it is the seemingly endless blitz of drug ads for diseases of which I have never heard.

I can put myself in the place of Martha and Mary and imagine their sorrow when Jesus seemingly arrived too late to save their beloved brother Lazarus. I can also put myself in their place and imagine their joy at seeing Lazarus restored to life and health.

I do not personally expect to experience a physical resurrection until ‘the end of days.’ I have, however, experienced the spiritual resurrection of my faith and the difference Jesus has brought about throughout my life. I was raised in the church, but my faith as an adult is deeper, wider and more meaningful than my faith as a child. My faith has ‘vaccinated’ my spirit through all the ups and downs of life. It will do so for all of God’s children.

Stay safe, let your faith in Jesus vaccinate you, trust God,

Pastor Ray