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 Swine flu 5/9/09 by Guy Sciortino It’s Sabbath morning. Later, I’ll likely be watching one of our denomination’s numerous on-line worship broadcasts. Unfortunately, it will be a poor substitute for the healthy activity I mostly enjoy. Sharing God’s rest with my brothers and sisters in the Billerica church has always been a source of inspiration and comfort for me at the end of each long and usually stressful work week. Today I will miss that precious opportunity. “What’s the problem?” one may well ask. I’ve been placed in a sort of quarantine. Recently some of my relatives have visited. One of them had just returned from a cruise to Cabo San Lucas and was getting over a respiratory illness, which was presented as just a minor annoyance: perhaps nothing more than a typical spring allergy. Nothing of concern, I was assured. Nonetheless, within a couple of days exposure, I became sick with flu-like symptoms and by Monday morning I was calling the hospital where I am employed (I’m an Anesthesiologist) to explain my intended absence. Having had contact with someone who’d been to Mexico was included in my conversation, reminding myself of the numerous e-mails that our infectious disease department propagated over the last two weeks regarding the spread of Swine flu.
Stay home and away from susceptible citizens for seven days was my directive: feeling well or not. Who knows what could be lingering in my mucus membranes that might bring the metropolitan area to its eminent disaster. Needless to say, my boss was less than pleased with the results of my family get together; yet he complied, as did I, with my necessary isolation away from the rest of the world. So here I sit, at the end of my “cure”, awaiting the moment when I can touch and exchange the same air again with humanity. It does, however, allow me the time to blog once more, should anyone be interested in my contemplations.
Not unlike my relatives, Adam and Eve may have perceived of the forbidden fruit episode as a “minor” annoyance, a trivial pursuit that should not have generated such a severe outcome and fuss. Even if they did not take that course in their final analysis, I’m persuaded each day by their descendants that the “act” was expected and God’s reaction was harsh and premeditated. What possible harm could this innocent couple have perpetrated in the eternal scheme of things by exploring their environment in such a manner as they chose? I could easily ask the same question of my own situation. Would someone really end up dead if I showed up at work and ‘protected’ my patients from inadvertently absorbing some mysterious miasma during the intimacy of professional duties? Do I owe the general public an explanation of my past? Can something I’ve done in ignorance truly have any impact on anyone else’s future?
I seriously doubt my relatives brought back Swine flu from south-of-the-border. Yet, here I am, recovering from some illness begotten alone or through the frequent hugging and kissing that Italian families exchange on a frequent basis. Should I have misrepresented the facts to the hospital’s employee health manager? I think not. As a responsible physician, I know the process and the cautions of the health profession; and more importantly, the legal and medical implications.
Certainly there are times when I think I know better than the authorities. I know how I feel and how to take care of myself. My relatives blew this off as if I were over-reacting, or if somehow they would come under the scrutiny of the Center for Disease Control; so why did I bother telling anyone about a simple runny nose? But the bottom line is that we all, like Adam and Eve, take things into our own hands, thinking we know better than those in charge, those trying to protect the public. And we yell foul; complaining that our rights are being violated, despite what our actions may do to jeopardize others. Is this not what sin is all about? It’s about us and our selfishness. Our rights. Our feelings. Our needs. Our own authority. To heck with everyone else. I could easily have blown off work this week and taken care of myself without the hospital’s okay. On the other hand, I could have cheated my colleagues in any number of ways, mostly by showing up at work and having hidden my possibilities for Swine flu behind Allegra, nasal sprays and plenty of tissues. Would anyone have succumbed to pulmonary collapse because of my misguided choices? I can’t say, but suppose one child or elderly patient was eventually afflicted because I didn’t think anything could happen? The accountabilty question is: is that the only reason for me to follow national guidelines?
I just read in the Globe today that a trolley car conductor was texting his girlfriend during the course of his job and he was distracted long enough for a major mishap to occur, injuring 43 people. I suppose he ignored his company’s policies in the security of his own ability to judge what was right for himself. It was a minor act (in itself not criminal), probably one of loving affection, but with major consequences. Adam and Eve’s act also may seem minor; and Adam’s part maybe out of love. Yet the results of their distraction have yielded in a short time (6,000 years) a world on the brink of total annihilation. A world full of violence and perversion. A world devoid of value, morality, safety, health, confidence, and respect. It is a world that has thrown away all the policies and guidelines and taken no captives. Was their (our first parents) act so trivial? You be the judge.
So I sit out my quarantine, using my time to reflect on the chances that even one rogue act, one little sin, could hurt a planet. I wouldn’t want the responsibility of Eden on my shoulders, yet I realize that it is, actually, on each of us. Adam and Eve could not perceive what their deed would accomplish against God’s beautiful plan for this earth. On their shoulders was an obligation no different than what we face each day. Observe the condition of the world because of their one error. Can you get your mind around that? Maybe it’s easy to excuse ourselves with the comforting thought that it’s a fait accompli and that nothing we do now matters anyway. Don’t we all do what’s right in our own eyes? So what? Well, next time tell that to the grieving families of victims killed by a terrorist who thought he was entitled to seventy virgins. What about his rights? Too extreme? Well, have you heard the one about . . . .
I’ll be back to work Monday, fresh as the new spring flowers in our garden. Hopefully, I won’t be infecting anyone with some undiscovered plague or planet-threatening bacteria. However, I can’t rest easy, having missed the true remedy for disease, which was a dose of spiritual food only provided by my local church experience. Yes, I can get similar nourishment from praying and Bible study. But it’s not the same as sharing faith. As a result, I worry that I might bring a worse infection into the world: that of my sinfulness. You see, it’s not unlike me to try and ignore the guidelines of the real Authority. I always do better with a little help from my friends, especially Jesus, Who is the only medicine for spiritual sickness.
As I write, I do so with caution, because we remain here constantly exposed to the ubiquitous plague of sin. And this illness we all share may explain why God has temporarily quarantined us from Heaven and its citizens. But the promise is that we are only temporarily isolated, that is: until the ultimate cure is finally administered and established. Until that day, I will continue to blog about it. Home | About Us | Bible Study | Billerica Blog | Bible Commentary | Devotional | Online Giving | Ministries | Prayer | Media | Bookstore | News | Calendar | Contact Us | Sermons |
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