SWINE FLU

An epidemic of swine flu has broken out, a particularly dangerous and deadly strain. People are quite naturally concerned and taking extra precautions to avoid infection. Politicians are riding the public transportation systems to ease people's fears and to make a statement about the dangers of paranoia. Public health announcements admonish us to be alert and wise. These are good things. Countries are closing their borders to people they think might be dangerous. A group from the School District of Lancaster had to cancel a trip to Japan because their hosts were concerned about such matters. Sometimes caution can also border on insanity.

But there's also a bit of truth we must come to grips with. You cannot totally immunize life against death--certainly not by quarantine or vaccines or medical precautions. Such measures are insurance against accidental infection and thoughtless endangerment. But they are not assurance.

At church yesterday one of my worship leaders asked if we wanted to tell people NOT to shake hands during the greeting time. I said, "Leave it up to their own judgment." We have had similar comments regarding bread taken from a common loaf at communion during previous flu seasons.

In worship or in the practice of our faith, trying to create safe and sterile conditions can easily take the life out of what is done. Somehow we need to sense that God in His supernatural power protects us when we are about our Father's business. The 1st century church captured the respect of Roman when believers cared for plague victims and the elderly that Roman citizens had literally abandoned in the gutters as a public health risk.

I am also reminded of the words of John in Revelation 12 about the overcoming power of believers who "did not love their life so much as to shrink from death."

Let's all pray for the sanity of the Spirit in times like these.