INOCULATION

It’s been a few weeks now since I’ve done any blogging. Geoff does all the technical work on our website and of course he and his family were enjoying some long overdue time away.

But these are big news days lately eh! … A young woman attacked and killed by coyotes in Cape Breton!... NB Power selling out to Hydro Quebec! … These are both huge stories for sure, but by far the biggest story these days is the H1N1 vaccination campaign.

It really is fascinating to consider how this is all unfolding, with polls showing the nation split right down the middle on the issue. On the one hand you have people who say, “No way! I’m not going to get it. It’s too dangerous and untested, or at least unnecessary.” And on the other hand you have people waiting in line for 6 hours in the cold to get one! It makes for an amazing contrast and really causes you to wonder how public opinion can be so polarized on such an important health issue. And, of course, the reality is that both positions are motivated by fear! I don’t know if FDR’s words - “we have nothing to fear but fear itself” – sit all that comfortably with me, but I do know that sometimes fear can overcome us and prevent us from making the right decision.

I watched the gut wrenching interview with the couple from Toronto who lost their 13 year old son this past weekend. Wow! Talk about courage for them to accept an interview like that only days later to tell their story while their hearts shattered into a million pieces on national television!

And then on the other side are those who are just really suspicious of the whole immunization ‘propaganda’ and have some really serious anxieties about getting the stuff pumped into their arms.

I think I’m somewhere in the middle with a lot of others – conflicted. I hate being confused. It goes against my innate desire to be sure about things. But such is life in this world. There is no shortage of ambiguity in it all.

It does remind me though of how thankful I am that the Scriptures are so clear, both about what will happen if we don’t accept Christ, and what will happen if we do. Some will still choose not to accept Him and probably one of the biggest reasons is fear. It can be a scary thing to turn your life over like that and surrender control. It’s a decision that will set the trajectory of your life and seal your fate forever. It really is a matter of trust. Hopefully though, you will realize that without Christ, you’re not going to make it, as certain destruction awaits all those who are overtaken with the human ‘virus’ of sin.

I am no medical professional and I really don’t know much about immunization or H1N1. I am not qualified to give an opinion on the matter and will have to depend upon other authorities just like everyone else. It seems to me that we are just going to have to trust the best sources we can identify. But I do know that when it comes to our eternal destiny, Jesus is the only hope for survival.

“… to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God…” 1Jn 1:12

LIFE'S A CURVE BALL

A young man shopping in a supermarket noticed a little old lady following him around. If he stopped, she stopped. Furthermore she kept staring at him. She finally overtook him at the checkout, and she turned to him and said,

'I hope I haven't made you feel ill at ease; it's just that you look so much like my late son.'

He answered, 'That's okay.'

'I know it's silly, but if you'd call out 'Good bye, Mom' as I leave the store, it would make me feel so happy.'

She then went through the checkout, and as she was on her way out of the store, the man called out, 'Goodbye, Mom.'

The little old lady waved, and smiled back at him.

Pleased that he had brought a little sunshine into someone's day, he went to pay for his groceries.

'That comes to $121.85,' said the clerk.

'What?! How come so much? I only bought 5 items!'

The clerk replied, 'Yeah, but your Mother said you'd be paying for her things, too.'

Life’s a curve ball. You never really know what to expect or where it’s going to go. You can’t really predict a whole lot with a whole lot of certainty much of the time. And it seems like it’s getting even harder all the time. In fact, I’m sure it is. That makes it pretty difficult when you’re making a sincere effort to meet things head on!

So, HOW DO you hit a curve ball?

Practice. There is no substitute for it. And how does that translate into the rest of life? Well, I have a few thoughts. I think that God wants us to be more aggressive sometimes rather than just passive. I know we usually think of faith as a passive thing, but I have been thinking about David the shepherd boy who became a king. It says that when he went out to meet Goliath, he ran towards that mountain of a man.

There is an element of aggressiveness in the whole concept of practicing. When we practice, we aren’t just waiting for life to come at us, we are preparing for it. Rather than just waiting to see what will happen and taking what comes, it would seem that there is a real need to be as prepared as possible. We call it being ‘proactive’. It is also significant that when Saul (the guy who probably should have been taking on the giant) questioned David about his abilities, David cited his experience with both a lion and a bear. And I’m thinking that when he let go with that sling of his it wasn’t the first time he had thrown a rock!

Now, David made it really clear that he was trusting in God the whole time. But trusting in God is not a passive thing and I guess that’s my point. God calls us into the fray and He certainly expects us to be as prepared as possible, all the while putting our trust in Him and not in our own abilities.

So how do we ‘practice’ for what the future holds? The answer lies in the present. If I think that I can live my days with a kind of laissez-faire attitude and then somehow just suddenly be ready in the future for whatever comes I am deceiving myself. Every day in the life of a Christian is like a day in training camp. The battles of the future are being won right now if I will allow God to be my trainer. It is the only hope we have of handling what life might some day throw at us.

Here’s a question for you: What are you doing today to make sure you are ready for the challenges of tomorrow? Because be assured of this - they are coming.