In the midst of CGI's firestorm over Covid-19, some folks have suggested that the folks who have practiced masking and received one of the vaccinations have demonstrated that their faith in God is weak. They suggest that we should instead have relied on the immune system which God gave us and prayers for protection. This kind of self-righteous and simplistic thinking reminded me of the story about the man who drowned and went to heaven.
The man was treading water and growing weary of the effort, and a man in a boat came by and offered assistance. "No thanks," the man replied, "I'm waiting on the Lord to save me!" A few minutes later, another boat came by and one of the ladies who was rowing offered to toss the man a life preserver. "No thanks," he again replied, "I'm expecting God to save me just any minute now." As he began to slip below the surface of the water, a person in a canoe came by and tossed a rope in his direction. No longer able to speak, the man wearily pushed the rope away and slipped under the surface for good. When he awoke in God's presence, he was perplexed and more than a little miffed. "Why didn't you save me?" he demanded. "What are you talking about?" God replied, "I sent you two boats and a canoe!"
The fact is that, just as God designed our immune system, "He" also designed the human mind. In short, God gave some of us the mind power and creativity to develop public health measures, treatments and vaccines to assist that wonderful immune system of ours to fight off diseases. Unfortunately, as with EVERYTHING else which God has created, sometimes things don't work out according to plan (sometimes people are born with defective hearts or without arms and legs). It doesn't happen very often, but sometimes masks fail and folks have adverse reactions to vaccines. For better and for worse, humans are unique creatures and what works for most doesn't always work for everyone.
For those who are uncomfortable with modern technologies and health care, there are religious alternatives still available for them. There are groups like the Amish and the Mennonites for the former, and some churches still have faith healers and amulets available for the latter group. For the vast majority of Christians, however, our faith is not impeded or destroyed by the things which the marvelously designed human brain has produced to aid and assist us in our sojourn on this planet. The Moderna vaccine doesn't negate or remove "the substance of things hoped for," and a mask doesn't eliminate "the evidence of things not seen."
This comment was posted to my private e-mail:
ReplyDeleteIt was drilled into many for a long time that medical science was not just bad but evil (the equivalent of worshipping Baal) and that vaccines were made from sources such as monkey pus. The only medicinal avenue that was sanctified was herbs and plants (with minimal processing if any) and healthy eating. It's hard to undo the deep ruts that these beliefs imprinted in people's brains. It's not a simple task. There's usually a lot of resistance. And, unfortunately, there are plenty of charlatans out there who will exploit these views for their own gain.
God did indeed give us a mind to think and reason with. We can figure out a lot of things -- and we get a sense of accomplishment out of it! Surely He's pleased with that!
I get occasional migraines -- they can be disabling -- but they go away if I take acetaminophen. For a while, in my early days in the church, I refused to take the medication viewing it as a lack of faith on my part. Now I look at it as a lack of common sense.