Fear, Faith, and Flu Shots
Posted by Danielle Bean in Health on Monday, October 26, 2009 12:00 PM
Last week, when I updated my facebook status with a simple “Flu shot today, I hope” I was a bit surprised to be deluged with people telling me not to get one.
I shouldn’t have been.
I know how many people feel about vaccines and I know many of the stories that circulate this time of year. You can find someone to tell you pretty much any bad thing about the flu shot—from it actually making you more vulnerable to the flu to it causing Alzheimer’s disease.
What people don’t know, however, is that my personal experience with the flu coupled with the fact that I have a child with cystic fibrosis make it very unlikely that anything other than rock-hard science will convince me not to get the shots.
As a mom who was quite relieved to get my kids their flu shots (both the seasonal and the H1N1) last week, I really appreciated Kate Wicker’s recent thoughtful blog post about common hesitations regarding vaccines.
There’s a lot of good reading there—in the post, in the articles linked, and in the comments. If you are on the fence about flu shots or even vaccines in general, I really recommend browsing through all of it.
I think intelligent people can come to very different decisions when it comes to the flu shot. While I shared a bit about my family’s illness-prevention strategy in a recent Faith & Family podcast where Arwen, Lisa, and I talked about the upcoming flu season, I firmly believe in every family’s right to make their own decisions on these matters.
But whether we decide to get the shots or not, I think these kinds of decisions are a prompting for every one of us to examine our fears in light of our faith. It is our responsibility as parents to take reasonable measures to prevent illness, but it’s also important to remember God’s goodness and to trust in His care.
This is something I struggle with. Sometimes, just the thought of my family contracting the flu can cause me to catch my breath with fear. I fear because I remember past experiences. I fear because I don’t know what the future holds.
I need to remember that our God is a loving God, and He has a plan for each of us. That plan may or not include pain and suffering in the months that lie ahead. Only God knows. Not in some scary, all-knowing, I’m out to get you kind of way. But in an all-knowing, all-loving I want what’s best for you kind of way.
In the end, whether we place our trust in flu shots, Omega 3’s or vitamin D, we should remember that the hairs on our head have been counted.
We must remember to put our trust, first and foremost, in Him.
I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do.
But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!
Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God.
Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.
—Luke 12:4-7
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