Breathing Easy

 "And He breathed into Him the breath of life". Genesis 2:7.

I'm no good with viruses.

Every year, around the end of February, I have a couple of weeks where I suffer with the inevitable snuffles as Winter melts into Spring, due to my underlying respiratory issues caused by asthma. It means that I've spent most of my life being very aware of my breathing, and it's usually the first spot to go awry when I'm under the weather.

For over a decade, I've been vaccinated against flu, and I had all of my childhood shots, so some people were a little surprised to hear that I'm giving the present roll-out of these new vaccines a very wide berth.

Initially, this was due to some ethical concerns I shared with other Christians that were expressed in the early stages of their development, but the underlying issues in respect to the nature of the key vaccines being employed themselves soon became another key issue. As you may be aware, what makes these effective is a new approach to treatment that has not been tried before - the introduction of MRNA into the body which triggers a rapid response in the immune system which in turn equips us with the proper defence for when the virus itself attacks. There's no doubt that this process is rapidly effective - the stats in the UK for the last few months clearly show this - but the issue is that material released by the vaccine into the body remains present after it has triggered that response, and, in spite of all the assurances, there is currently no data on the longer-term impact or effects on the body of this, and that is a very real concern.

I've discussed these issues with others, and whilst many of my secular work colleagues see these and other matters as very valid to this particular situation, I've been shocked to find Christians who seem pretty oblivious to the matter, thinking it's fine for people to just go ahead and have the vaccine without bearing such social and individual welfare matters in mind. Why this is so, is baffling.

I understand the issues involved are complex - there are medical, social and spiritual ramifications to weigh - but shouldn't that mean that there are conversations about this issue amongst us, at least in respect to seeking to inform people about some of the key issues involved.

The rapid roll-out of this program may now be witnessing its first very real casualties  of such a hasty approach to blanket vaccinations. If this indeed proves to be the case, it will be a consequence almost certainly as deadly as the virus itself, so clearly, caution needs to be applied in how we weigh-up what is unfolding here.

The guide-line we must employ is to "Prove (test) all things" - to seek to look at the full picture, and not merely what our own preferences encourage. Patience is so often the cornerstone in such changing situations to evidence the full picture. Whilst we may understand the fear a crisis like this can generate (I most certainly did when it hit me like a freight train last March), we must not act on that, but allow wisdom and careful examination to weigh upon our choices.

As Oliver Cromwell put it, 'Put your faith in God, and keep your powder dry'.