The Houdini Virus

Problems cry out for solutions. In normal, everyday life, we expect people to work together, keeping their minds and eyes open for clues and applauding any and all efforts and even hints at solutions.

When that does not happen, we must wonder why. Over the course of the COVID-19 crisis, the public has been inundated with information, not all of which has proved accurate. Answers have been elusive.

Reputable physicians, researchers, and reporters who have suggested an alternative narrative have been silenced, censured, and in some cases have lost their jobs.

Proposed remedies have been summarily rejected, even when anecdotal evidence supports the treatment and the medication has been on the market for decades.

Interviews and official statements have been taken down from online platforms with little or no explanation, as if the public has no right to know or that we are children incapable of judging things for ourselves.

These are indications of a “cancel culture” which admits no conflicting data. If you have followed events carefully, you know all of this already. The question remains, how should a believer in Jesus respond?

First, none of this should surprise us, given fallen human nature. We know from the history of the sciences that competition, pride, and greed often have come into play, and people are not equally objective.

Second, it should sharpen our resolve to discover answers to key questions ourselves, given that we are made in God’s image as seekers of truth. In the end, each of us is responsible for his/her own health.

We need not follow conspiracy theories, but it’s always good to ask what is preventing the free-flow of information. Things work best when we are open to any and all sources instead of shouting down anything with which we disagree. That is the true spirit of science.

Keeping our head while things are confusing can be a challenge, and it reminds us of the frustration expressed in Psalm 116:10, “In my dismay, I said, ‘All men are liars.'” He’s at the end of his rope!

But, like the psalmist, when we feel stressed, we pray and then trust God to lead us and clear a path forward, even as we seek deliverance. Medical science itself may be confused, but God is not.

“The Lord is gracious and righteous;
our God is full of compassion.
The Lord protects the simplehearted;
when I was in great need, He saved me.
Psalm 116:5,6


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