I am tired…tired of trying to have compassion for individuals who are choosing not to get vaccinated against Covid. Tired of people claiming that wearing a mask is somehow an infringement of their freedom.
I’m tired of hearing people who claim to follow Jesus show no concern for their fellow human beings…saying that their “rights” are more important.
I’m tired of hearing people poo-poo science and the medical personnel who have been working as hard as they can to try to keep us safe.
Cases are soaring–fueled by the Delta variant, which is far more transmissible and more dangerous than the original virus.
Hospitals are again running out of beds in Covid units–largely occupied by unvaccinated individuals…many of whom (or their families) are expressing regret that they didn’t listen to the science.
Doctors and nurses are being pushed to the brink again. They have spent a year and a half fighting valiantly against this virus, doing their best to save people–only now to see much of their work coming undone and finding themselves running from one bed to another…and losing far too many patients.
Only 610,000 people have died in the United States–and there have been almost 35 million cases in the United States alone. Yet while about 57% of Americans have had at least one shot, we are still only at 45% who are fully vaccinated.
We’re all tired of this pandemic…tired of not being able to go places, see friends, get back to “normal” (whatever that ends up being). But we’re not going to get out of this until everyone is willing to do what they can to help.
There are individuals who have valid reasons why they can’t get vaccinated–and I support that. There are children who are too young to get vaccinations–at least at this point. I hope that will change–but right now, they are dependent on the rest of us.
We have understood that vaccinations have helped us defeat mumps, smallpox, chickenpox, polio…and most of us have had those vaccinations without claiming that our rights have been somehow taken away from us.
These are some pictures from 1918–the last time we had a major pandemic…
And these are from the 1950s polio epidemic…
Science and medicine helped us get through these horrible times–so that pictures like these can simply be memories of the past…although there are still individuals who are dealing with the aftermath of polio.
I get that people are tired of the restrictions. I am too. But unless we are willing to listen…to care for each other…to realize that the choices we make impact others, not just ourselves–we will continue to have increased infections…increased deaths…continuing mutations…and continued restrictions.
It’s not just your choice. It affects all of us.
Preacher's Kid 