Several years ago, I went on a vacation with my family. One of the nights, we went to eat dinner at a restaurant called the Olive Garden. I ordered a meal called the Tour of Italy, which consisted of lasagna, fettuccine alfredo and chicken parmesan. I ate the entire thing, as well as an entree of calamari, and the complimentary salad and breadsticks. It was a lot of food to consume in one sitting. And I paid for it.
Later that night I got very sick. I even got a fever; I think I saw visions! I didn’t eat for days after that episode. I don’t know if I just overate, or got some kind of food poisoning, or a combination of both. I am still paying the price, because my stomach and my digestive system has never been the same since. It’s as if my capacity to eat had shrunk. So if you ever comment on the fact that I don’t eat a lot, know that it’s not on purpose!
I was scarred by that event. If I hear about that Tour of Italy meal, I cringe inside. It was a terrible experience. Someone else ate the same meal that night, and had no adverse reaction, so their experience was drastically different to mine. My memory of that situation prompted me to warn people not to eat that meal, not even to eat in that restaurant. It’s a long-lasting, emotional memory, because of how bad it was.
I know people who have been hit hard by covid. So hard in fact, that it landed them in the hospital, fighting for their life. If they ever thought before then that covid wasn’t real, or it was exaggerated, they will most certainly have a different opinion now. They would likely agree that we need to be more careful. I know people who haven’t gotten covid, nor are they close to anyone who has, and they are convinced that the reaction to it has been overblown. Their life has also fallen victim to the detrimental effects of the lockdown, and they suffered loss in other ways.
It’s possible for two things to be true at the same time.
Both are emotional responses to a situation, based on their individual experiences. What’s so important is to make rational conclusions based on facts, not on emotion. The media uses tactics to trigger our emotional response mechanism. They tell the story of a 24-year old fighting for her life in hospital to scare us. They don’t include the facts that she has underlying health issues, and didn’t go into the hospital because of covid, and suffered a different infection while in hospital. And then she eventually tested positive for covid.
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” – 2 Timothy 1:7
Bad experiences affect how we view things, in the same way that good experiences affect how we view things. If someone ate the Tour of Italy and thought it was delicious and the best meal of their life, they’ll go back to have it again and recommend it to their friends. I on the other hand? Well I’m sure you could assume how I feel about it.
The rational response is that either I ate way too much for my system to handle, or perhaps my piece of chicken was undercooked. The emotional response is that I can never think of that food again because it ruined me, and I tell the horrific tale to everyone I know. But will I never eat food again? Is it too risky to eat at a restaurant again? Of course not.
In the case of covid, we have no choice but to push past emotion and look at the facts. It’s a serious illness to many people. But yet some people feel it’s a hoax. Some feel it was cooked up in a lab and used as biological warfare. Some feel its a flu or pneumonia, and we shouldn’t be afraid of it. The reality is, there is something out there making people sick. Some people would go as far as to say it has to do with 5G networks.
“What I always feared has happened to me. What I dreaded has come true.” – Job 3:25
We have been so conditioned to be afraid, that we see other people as walking disease vectors. Fear is crippling. It overtakes us. The question is: is that fear justified? Do the measures help the situation or make it worse? Is the government actually doing all they can to help?
Some doctors feel that the measures aren’t enough, and we need more. Other doctors feel that the lockdowns are not helping, and they need to lift. Some doctors believe masks protect us. Other doctors feel that masks are in fact dangerous to our health, and do not protect from small virus particles. Some doctors believe that the vaccine is our ticket to getting out of this. Other doctors feel that since the vaccines are not tested or proven, that we should proceed with caution. Some even believe the vaccines are making people more sick, and making the virus worse.
So which is it? Who is right?
We’re being told that the hospitals are overwhelmed and about to burst. A quick deep dive into recent history shows that hospitals are always overwhelmed, especially during flu season. There’s always been a shortage of nurses. We’re often told to avoid emergency rooms. Surgeries had to be postponed in years past. There weren’t enough beds. That didn’t start in March of 2020. It has been that way for a long time. We just didn’t hear about day in and day out.
At the time that I wrote this article, where I live, a province with a population of 8.4 million people, there are currently 12,124 active cases (which is 0.14% of the population). There are 537 people in the hospital, and 174 people in intensive care, for a total of 711. That means, of the people who currently are infected with covid, 0.05% of them require hospital care. All of this data can be easily found and accessed on the government of Quebec website.
If you take your emotions out of it, and you take fear out of it, what do those numbers say to you? The healthcare system here has been a disgrace since the mid-90’s, with little to no action taken to improve it. But now suddenly it’s a problem. And what’s worse, is that mitigation actions are merely a band-aid solution. You can’t conceivably keep people locked down forever, and without serious reforms to the healthcare network, this will happen again.
Covid is a problem, but so is cancer (and important treatments are being delayed). So is suicide (and it’s on the rise, especially among young people). So is domestic abuse (that is exasperated because of the lockdown). So is obesity (which makes covid worse, but there haven’t been any restrictions on fast food consumption).
The entire premise of this situation is based upon taking actions to keep others safe. But that was never pushed upon us before March of 2020. Nor does it address all the other killers that surround us every day. Nor does it address any other risk-factors. But, we happily post pictures of our dutifully obedient behaviors. Pictures of our zoom meetings, our socially-distanced birthday parties, our vaccination stickers and our masked selfies.
“But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” – James 3:17
Meanwhile, many of us don’t ask the tough questions.
Why is a virus with an extremely high recovery rate the thing that brought the world to its knees. Why aren’t cigarettes illegal. Why does our food and drinking water contain so many chemicals. Why have small businesses gone under while big chains thrive. Why has the flu disappeared. Why are international flights from India allowed to land in the country carrying the double mutant variant, but Canadian citizens are forbidden from inter-provincial travel. Why do rough covid cases garner extreme measures, but deadly reactions to vaccines doesn’t halt the program.
Why isn’t paid sick leave offered everywhere, considering the irrefutable proof that workplaces drive outbreaks. Why are health measures so different everywhere despite the fact that we’re all dealing with the same virus. Why aren’t we encouraged to strengthen our immune system with vitamins and exercise. Why have proven medications for covid been banned. Why do people with a different opinion get censored.
“Worship the LORD your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you.” – Exodus 23:25
If someone has gotten sick from covid, it will be hard to convince them not to take it seriously. If someone hasn’t, it’ll be hard to convince them to take it seriously. Their experiences drive how they feel about the virus, but our reactions must always be based on facts. As Christians, we must never operate in pride, but always in love.
“Every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.” – 1 John 4:3
The fact is, there is an evil agenda in this world. There is an anti-christ spirit. There are people who have wicked plans. We need only look to history for evidence, and Bible prophecy for proof. There is clearly something making people sick. They have suffered. And we cannot discount them. But an unemotional acknowledgement of facts will remind us that there is a big problem right now, and covid is a very small percentage of it.
