As A Christian, Can I Panic About Ebola?

It's a situation I've been watching carefully, and it only recently seems to be something people are noticing. Studying epidemics is a sort of hobby of mine and has been for many years. I’ve been fascinated to study how different cultures – especially religions – react.

Take a very short trip in history with me, for a moment, to 1918, when the Spanish influenza was swallowing the globe. Only Australia remained untouched, as it cut off contact with everyone else, and it is estimated that anywhere from 50 million to100 million people died. The majority of those people were in the prime of their lives; the elderly and children seemed strangely untouched. Whole villages were wiped out. Cities became forced to bury people in mass graves because they were dying too fast to build caskets or dig proper graves. It was a dark time, and the line “bring out your dead” doesn’t seem so funny when you realize people were literally dropping their loved ones outside their doors, hoping against all hope that they hadn’t been exposed long enough to become ill themselves. All social events were banned, but one group of people stood out as defying this law: Christians.

Gathering together on Sunday, everyone wearing masks, many churches would set up chairs in the middle of the street and have their services. At a time when people were abandoning their own families and shutting themselves away, believers were finding strength in one another. This isn’t to say they were better than everyone else – because there were people who did amazing things without this form of faith – but they knew their hope lay in something other than remaining healthy. I have no doubt that there was fear in their hearts, wondering if they would die next, or a spouse, or a child, or a parent. It’s not as though faith makes things less scary, because they are scary, but it allows us to focus on something other than fear. We wouldn’t stand in the way of a rampaging elephant herd as a show of faith, so how should be think about this situation?

This is how I think about it: things like this - where one is so completely out of control - you feel more acutely, especially if you like order and predictability; however, there is nothing that works quite like an epidemic for bringing people face to face with eternity. It forces them to actively choose God or themselves in a way most wouldn't, because this culture is so lackadaisical and would normally enjoy the lukewarm feelings of disinterest or indifference. In a sort of strange way, I think these things are beautiful. It's amazing to see how striking the church can be in "such a time as this," where we can be unafraid and aware of the glory that awaits us if God chooses to take us up to Him. Even as one is completely aware of the danger, one can also be aware that – ultimately – our hope lies in something quite different than the next breath we take.

I'm thinking specifically of Romans 8:5-27, especially the last two paragraphs:

"For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

"But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

"Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

"Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God."

2^nd Timothy 2:7 also comes to mind: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

We are in a fallen world, and our gut reaction will be one of fear; however, God gives us strength in Himself so that we can treat our fears differently and reach the world in its crisis, bringing others to share in our hope.

The 1918 Influenza

The 1918 Influenza is an almost forgotten pandemic. Many would think that the enormous violence of it, and the number of deaths that were the outcome, would have made more of an impression on the world than it has. History books rarely say more than a paragraph about it, and what is written about it does not even hint at the ferocity of it. In the 2001 World Encyclopedia, there is only a paragraph of information, and the information is not even close to stating the information adequately.

In the Spring of 1918, around mid February, a mild influenza started at a military camp in Kansas. The troops dubbed it, “Three day fever” because it usually lasted about three days, and only on rare occasions did people die. Nevertheless, in only four months, the mild strain had swept the globe, killing tens of thousands. In Boston, it infected 81 people in the space of four days. In London, 1,175 died in three weeks. But this was only the first wave of the influenza, and the milder of the two. No one was prepared when, only a month after the world had recovered from the mild influenza, it sprang up again, in a military camp at Fort Devens, Massachusetts.

On August 22nd, the first person who had the second strain of the influenza was diagnosed as having cerebrospinal meningitis. Because the doctors did not believe that a flu would have such extreme symptoms. The soldier came in with a fever, headache, burning eyes, chills, and a sore body. Soon, signs of delirium started. His face turned a brownish-purple color, he started coughing up blood, and his feet turned black. He was dead only days after showing symptoms. The next day, eight more soldiers walked into the hospital with the same symptoms. The day after that, 58 more. The fourth day, 81 more were sick. The next week, 118. Then they started dying, two hours to five days after being infected. An average of 100 soldiers died per day. Out of the 300 nurses caring for the men, 90 died. The doctors there begged the government to send scientists to diagnose the illness and try to find a cure before it spread out of the camp.

The government sent William H. Welch, a well known and revered medical scientist in America. It was said of him, “(He can) ...transform men’s lives almost with the flick of a wrist.” He was looked up to, and was considered one of the most important medical professors of the age. When he did an autopsy on one of the victims of the influenza, he actually trembled with fear at what he saw. The lungs were filled with blood and fluids. The victims were dying because they were drowning in their own blood. The doctors who were assisting him were shocked at his response when he said, “This must be some new kind of infection... Or plague.”

So the influenza started, plaguing the young and healthy with an 80% death rate. The mild strain that had swept the globe in February had mutated into a deadly flu. The doctors were very hesitant to call the sickness a flu. Some called it Bronchopneumonia. Others called it things like an Epidemic Respiratory Infection, or an unidentified pandemic disease. Doctors raced to find a vaccine, but nothing was effective. Throughout the states, the influenza attacked the humans lung cells, and black feet indicated the death that would inevitably occur.

Massachusetts was the first state to suffer huge numbers of deaths, but it quickly spread. The Great Lakes Training Station, in Chicago, Illinois, was struck hard. 2,600 men were squeezed into barracks for 1,800. In a military camp in Ohio that held 13,161 men, 1,101 died. Some cities had multiple waves of the strain. Louisville, Kentucky suffered three waves in rapid succession. San Francisco was told to start digging graves in preparation for the influenza. In many cities, they made it a requirement to wear a surgical mask at all times. In San Francisco alone, they distributed 5,000 masks in one hour. Fines for leaving the home without a mask were a minimum of $5, to 30 days in jail. Seattle and New York were two other cities that required the masks. In most cities any public gatherings were banned, but some churches continued to meet outside. If you were sick while traveling by ship, you were told to sleep on deck, with no one to nurse you, to lessen the chance that others would get ill. Sheets were hung in military barracks to keep soldiers from breathing on one another. The influenza was nicknamed, “Purple Death.”

Philadelphia was the hardest hit American city. The doctors there claimed that the influenza wouldn’t survive because of the climate, so they didn’t even try to take any precautions. When it struck, 4,500 died in two weeks. In one day, 759 died. Morgues were so crowded with bodies that embalmers refused to go into them. Funerals were limited to 15 minutes long. There were ten times more bodies than caskets to put them in. Signs were posted, begging people not to spit or close their windows. Priests drove carts down the streets, calling out, asking people to bring out their dead. There was such a need for doctors that they asked for volunteer doctors, and didn’t require someone with a medical degree. 72,000 volunteered. Non Certified doctors and nurses were frantically assigned to hospitals in need. The number of dead bodies was so great, mass graves were dug, and bodies thrown in without coffins. Grave-diggers were accused of dealing ghoulishly with the bodies, but there simply wasn’t enough time to do anything differently. One doctor said, “The life of the city had almost stopped.”

Between September 11th, and October 3rd, there were an estimated 75,000 cases of the influenza in America. September through November, the American Expeditionary Force listed 9,144 deaths. In September alone, 12,000 American’s died. In all, 38% of the American Army and Navy were killed. More American soldiers, not including civilians, died than those in the Korean War, the Vietnam War, World War I, and World War II, put together. Rumors were spread that the influenza was an act of war: That the German drug company, Bayer, was mixing the virus with the aspirin they were sending to the states; Or maybe the German military released an airborne virus in Boston Harbor and other major American cities.

But the US was not the only place to suffer. Within two months, the entire globe was infected, excluding Australia, and islands under Australia’s jurisdiction. Australia, when hearing about the virus, cut off all contact of the outside world.

They got the better end of the deal. The French army suffered at least 10,158 deaths in three months. The French called the influenza, “La Grippe.” In two months, the British Expeditionary Force suffered at least 3,656 deaths. In Wales, two thirds of the population died. In Germany, people were literally dropping dead in the streets. The Germans called it, “Blitzkatarrh,” which means, “Lightning.” An Eskimo village of 80 people was hit, and when the influenza had passed, only five adults and a number of children had survived.

But those numbers pale in comparison of the overall affect of the influenza. It killed more in a year than the Black Death had killed in 100 years. More people died in 24 days than those that die from AIDS in 24 years. It killed more in it’s duration than any other disease in history. The number of deaths was at least 50 million, but is more likely over 100 million. There is no way to find the actual amount of deaths, because it swept the globe so fast and thoroughly that accounts of it are vague, and in many places, nonexistent. In 1917, the average life expectancy was 51 years. In 1918, it dropped 12 years.

Doctors and scientists were so very frightened by the event, they immediately started looking for a vaccine, in the case that the virus might appear again. Richard Shope proved that the influenza was caused by a virus, and later, Wilson Smith discovered the virus that caused it. But this was no help.

The common flu mutates, at least once, annually. That is why new vaccines for it come out every year. But the flu mutates so fast that the vaccine quickly becomes useless. Since the 1918 Influenza was the common flu, mutated, Richard Shope’s discovery of the virus was useless. The exact same flu pattern happening again is slim, so why create a vaccine for a specific virus that will most likely never strike again? But the possibility of another bad mutation is pretty good. In fact, bad mutations of the influenza have already happened twice, but were stopped before they could spread too far. Statistics show that if the wrong mutation occurred again, it would result in 1.5 million deaths in America alone. That is roughly the number of citizens of Nebraska! The deaths would numerate over the number of deaths from heart disease, cancers, strokes, Chronic Pulmonary Disease, AIDS, and Alzheimer in one year.

So why is the 1918 Influenza so avoided when it had, and can have, such disastrous results? Alfred Crosby believes that the people who survived it are too terrified of it to speak about it. Another reason might be that it killed no big political leaders. It also left nothing behind. No cripples, no lasting disorders to those that managed to survive, and so on.

It is America’s forgotten pandemic; A killer that ravaged the globe, killing millions. Then it disappeared, leaving the world to recuperate. It is the common flu. Something that the world is so used to, they don’t even see it as a threat. The world is almost unaware that it has ever wreaked such destruction. The only question is, will the world be ready if it happens again?

Compassion and Integrity

How is the chief end of Man to be accomplished? (I do not feel the need to be politically correct, here). What is the chief end of Man? As many in the church have probably heard at least once, the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. In layman's terms: This should be the goal of a man's life.

I was recently having a conversation with my friend, David, about the legacy that a person leaves behind. I was commenting on the disappointment I sometimes felt at being recognized for the things I could do rather than the way I lived. I mean, yes, I can sing pretty well... I'm good with special needs children... I'm a hard worker. So David posed this question: What did I want people to remember about me when I was gone? What legacy did I want to leave behind? I told him the following: I want to be known for the passionate love I have for people. I want to be known for my honesty, compassion, and integrity.

As I thought about this to myself, this week, I found myself wondering if those following things really are meant to be my legacy. Sure, it would be nice to have people think well of me, but is that what God wants? Does He really care? When applying the exact characteristics I mentioned, the answer is yes and no. Yes, God wants us to leave behind an example of goodness - An example of His Son. No, it should not simply be our legacy. If I am known, when I die, as this person who could love so deeply and live with such integrity, it should be because of Who I lived in honour of. To glorify God, we live in the glorious, mirror image of His Son.

Now, the hard part. You think living righteously is hard, trying actually enjoying yourself! Okay - so it really shouldn't be that hard. In fact, I find it quite easy to enjoy God. This might mean different things for different people. For me, to enjoy God is to live with rapturous joy in the blessings He has provided me. Sometimes, I revel in the beautiful earth He has given me. People often tease me of my obsession with clouds... I love them because, to me, they boldly declare the wonders of God. Sometimes, I bask in the company of people that God has placed around me. I may not talk much, but just to be around people I love fills me with inexpressible joy. Sometimes, I sit in His sanctuary, wherever it may be at the moment (For Jesus has provided many forms of a sanctuary), and spend time in His Word. To enjoy God, enjoy what He has given you! Do not question Him, asking why He would give you something you do not deserve. Is that not like apologizing profusely? Praise the Lord for His gifts, whether they be wonders in nature, the people around you, the food on your plate! Whatever He has given, He has given to be enjoyed by His people.

I challenge you to live with integrity and joy in Christ. What better legacy can we leave?

TM

Help!

I have been thinking about a new post - three, actually - and I am unsure of where to start. So... I figured I would put these three ideas into a post and ask the opinion of my invisible readers. Which do you think I should write on, first? Second? Last?

1) The idea that all men die of unnatural causes.

2) The importance of attending ONE church - not church-hopping.

3) How the chief end of man is to be accomplished.

TM

It is sad to see that I have horribly neglected my blog. I suppose it is because I realize that few people read it, if any, so I rarely write. However, it is a good way to relieve heavy thought and to ponder in writing.

I'm going to post a poem that I recently rediscovered in one of my lost notebooks. Enjoy!

When a heart is pained, where does it turn?
How invariably to the wrong place!

There are things which the heart must forget.

Turn not to happiness, lest your broken heart be crushed.
Let the heart be content with it's lot.

Be not stubborn and stuck in your ways, for the firm cannot be moved.
The heart will forget pain, so, farewell to Love!
One cannot exist alone, for they are symbiotic.

Love is pain, and let it be so!
For pain strengthens the best love.

The Love that is strengthened perseveres. Ah! To the very end!
For the scars of Life are a shield.

Let the arrows fly! Then the enemy draw it's sword!
For no one can hurt me! My heart has loved and known pain.

Let it always be so, now and forever.

This poem was written at a time when I realized that God seems to find the perfect way to mold me through whatever I go through. I realized that I had let pain take me and tried to turn to happiness, but it didn't work. When I let God use my pain to strengthen, and when I allowed myself to love again, I felt whole and invincible. In many ways, God has used pain to mold me into the person I am. I feel like Stonewall Jackson when it comes to this. When he was dying, he was asked if he would take the chance to go back in time - To change the past. He said he would not, because he believed that God's will was more important than his own. What a powerful concept! And one that I keep in my own heart.

God bless and keep you.
TM

Just Do It!

Tomorrow I celebrate my 19th birthday. It's hard to believe that I have lived so long! If not for the love of Christ I would not be here today, nor do I think I would want to be.

I watched, for the first time, Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ." I didn't watch it when it first came out because I felt unready for it. I can't explain this, but it is simply truth. But for several weeks I have yearned to watch it. I wanted to remember. Sometimes I think the story of Jesus' sacrifice becomes simply that; a story. I never want Christ's sacrifice to become unimportant to me. You might say I never want to be a fake Christian. So many Christian's seem afraid to realize the great reality of the crucifixion. When I was not even ten years old my church, as a group, delved into the crucifixion itself, to see how it worked. I was fascinated by what I learned. I found it more horrific than I had even imagined.

A common mistake in films and portrayal of the crucifixion show the nails through the hands of Jesus, when in reality the nail would have had little purpose there. They were actually driven in directly below the wrist, so that the bones of the arm would hold the nail into place. In the hand, the nail would have slit through the skin and in between the fingers, eventually releasing a badly misshapen hand.

The position of the body, with the arms held out and the feet nailed to a block, allows the person hanging to breath in, but not to exhale. If you want to breath out you have to push up with your feet (Which have nails in them! I can only imagine the pain of this simple task). Then you can exhale. But just try to imagine the pain. Your bones have probably come disjointed because of the loose hanging, and your muscles clench and tighten as you struggle for breath. Your body is pressed against unfinished wood that splinters into your already ravaged back. As you weaken you can no longer push yourself up for breath, and you eventually die of suffocation. If you, however, live too long for your torturers taste, your legs can be broken, to shorten the time spent in dying.

In Jesus' case, he died before the soldiers started breaking legs, to fulfill the prophesies of the Old Testament. But just to make sure he was dead the soldiers, "Pierced His side." Or His heart. Blood and water gushed out. This shows that He did not die of suffocation, but of heart failure, due to shock and constriction of the heart because of fluid in the pericardium (The sack that contains the heart and beginnings of major blood vessels). What a terrible way to die! And yet, our Savior did that.

I do not understand how someone could hear this story and not be touched! And I did not even mention his torture beforehand! The horrible whipping that tore his flesh until he was unrecognizable! (Isaiah 52:14 and Isaiah 53) The mocking and beating of the soldiers! The humiliation of his mock robing and crowning, and the eventual carrying of the cross for over 600 yards, while still bleeding and bruised.

Oh Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made;
I see the stars. I hear the rolling thunder;
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee;
How great Thou art. How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee;
How great Thou art. How great Thou art!

And when I think that God, His Son not sparing,
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in.
That on the cross, my burdens gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sins!

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee;
How great Thou art. How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee;
How great Thou art. How great Thou art!


This story fills me with love for my Savior. I challenge you to spread it! Tell people that nothing they have suffered even compares to what Jesus did for them; out of Love! We are so blessed!

Heavenly Father, I Magnify Thee.
Heavenly Father, I Magnify Thee.
I love Thee, adore Thee,
I bow down before Thee.
Heavenly Father, I Magnify Thee.