May 13, 2020
Goodness Abounding
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15: 13
Author Bill Bryson writes in his book, The Body, “that the most striking difference between 1900 and today is that nearly half the deaths in 1900 were from infectious diseases compared with just 3 percent now.” He also said “that the rise of penicillin and other antibiotics like Albert Schatz’s streptomycin had an obvious and significant on infectious diseases……Another huge boost can be attributed to vaccines. In 1921, America had about 200,000 cases of diphtheria; by the early 1980’s with vaccination, that had fallen to just 3. In roughly the same period, whooping cough and measles infection fell from about 1.1 million cases a year to just 1,500. Before vaccines, 20,000 Americans a year got polio. By the 1980’s, that had dropped to 7 a year.”
I share all of this in order to share the hope that comes from the belief in the goodness of humanity and in the goodness of God. The quality of civilization has gotten better and better because there have been hundreds of thousands of people who care enough to work day and night to free men, women, and children from the fear of disease and death.
This is exactly what we are seeing now with hard-working scientists trying to achieve the same thing: a vaccine and therapeutic intervention to give us hope for the future. All trying to cross the same finish line.
It’s a beautiful thing to see.
As Paul said, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing…”
Prayer: O, God, let us be grateful for the goodness that abounds in those who are working to solve the threat that surrounds us. In Your name we pray. Amen.
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