Killer Flu?

Note: I am still thinking about the death of my co-worker Regina today. I went to make tea and would have left the remaining hot water for her (as she did for me), but there was no need today. I just poured it out. That was hard. I have written some lighter stuff already, but not today. I will post that stuff next week.

There is another lesson from the terrible epidemic sweeping around the world: Despite all of our knowledge and advances and hubris, we are not in control. There are many things that are just bigger than we are.

This latest spreading killer is not a new type of cancer or a disease that we have never heard of. This is the flu. Now we've all had the flu, both the cold-symptom flu and the stomach flu. And while we use expressions like, "I'm so sick I think I'm going to die," we know that we won't. It's just the flu!

I assume that, as with any disease, those who die are from the pool of people in poorer health or with weaker immune systems. Even so, the flu, an illness that typically causes you to miss a couple of days of work or school, can become so bad that it kills people. It's a bit scary when you think about it.

As thoroughly modern people, we live most days as if we do not need God. When we need food and shelter, we work for it. When we are sick, we go to the doctor. When our transportation breaks down, we take it to the mechanic. We are normally capable of meeting our own needs or can get the help that we need in this world.

Modern medicine has become a victim of its own success. We cure nasty cancers. He have pills and shots for problems we didn't even know we had. Artificial limbs have become commonplace. Therefore, when our modern technologies are unable to fix a problem we are surprised.

I broke my shoulder in December 2007. Badly. Even so, I never doubted that it could be fixed; it was simply a matter of what needed to be done. Imagine my surprise when the doctor said that the 50% range of motion that I had was as good as it was going to get.

Anyone would be unhappy with a prognosis like that, but I was doubly disappointed because I had placed my faith in the ability of modern medicine to fix anything.

We are not in control as much as we think. We sail along through life and then the economy tanks or a teeny tiny germ lays us low. And at times there is nothing we can do about it.

This is why we need God. You might still lose your job or I might still get sick. But when those things happen, we need to be holding his hand and not putting our trust in ourselves.