Looking around in stores and on the streets on a warm spring day, very few of us are wearing masks now. For many of us our fear of Covid-19 is pretty much over. Most of us have been vaccinated. Yes, we hear stories about a person here or there contracting avian flu, primarily from the few cows and goats, but most of us shrug away the news. I mean, how many of us work with cattle or encounter infected wild mammals?
But American factory farming poses a danger. Avian flu (H5N1) was the culprit in the 1918 flu epidemic. The way that chickens and other animals are caged and penned can create the right circumstances or a real outbreak. The FDA states that “at this time” there seems to be no real cause for alarm. Love that phrase “at this time.”
We don’t like living in a world of uncertainty. It’s probably the one lasting result of the pandemic we experienced, not knowing what could happen next. Continuing to invest in scientific research is critical to being able to make sure the next pandemic doesn’t catch us off guard like the last one did.
Prayer for the Day
Uncertain of the changing world around us in this time,
We wonder where our questions will lead us;
Feeling adrift like a ship without a rudder on a vast and open sea,
We flounder about, searching for certainty and stability.
Open us to your wisdom, O merciful One,
Enabling us to respond to the world around us.
In the name of the One who asked questions without fear,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.
Zora Neale Hurston, American writer (1891-1960)
Scientists proceed by common sense and ingenuity. There are no rules, only the principle of integrity and objectivity, with a complete rejection of all authority, except of fact.
Joel Hildebrand, American chemist (1881-1983)
May God grant me to speak with judgment,
And to have thoughts worthy of what I have received;
For God is the guide even of wisdom, and the corrector of the wise.
For both we and our words are in God’s hand,
As are all understanding and skill in crafts.
Wisdom of Solomon 7: 15-16