There was a time when infants and children died from childhood diseases such as measles and polio. As a small child, I had the measles and was kept in a dark room for the two weeks it took for the illness to run its course. There was a huge “Quarantine” poster on the front door of the apartment where I lived. I’m not sure how old I was. I survived but many did not.
It wasn’t until the mid-60s that the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine was developed, which protects most people for life. Rubella, a so-called milder form of measles, in pregnant women can cause severe damage to their unborn children.
Then there’s polio, DPT, not to mention Covid and pneumonia vaccines, now saving millions of lives. A vaccine denier is now slated to be the head of Health and Human Services. Let’s hope that states continue to require such vaccines instead of going back to the dark ages to eliminate childhood and adult diseases.
Prayer for the Day
Searching for direction in a new landscape,
We seek a future we cannot yet see;
Unbind us from the past of our imagination
And help us look toward a future with hope.
Move us beyond myths of our own making,
So we can find truth rather than answers of other times.
In the name of the One who helps us in this time,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen
Thoughts for the Day
Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge.
Carl Sagan, scientist, astronomer (1934-1996)
The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.
Isaac Asimov, scientist, writer (1920-1992)
The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,
And whatever else you get, get insight.
Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;
She will honor you if you embrace her.
She will place on your head a fair garland;
She will bestow on you a beautiful crown.
Proverbs 4: 7-9