Bad news, good news, and the best news of all |
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Merriam-Webster has chosen "vaccine" as the 2021 word of the year, and for good reason. Let's start with the bad news: the World Health Organization is warning of a "very high" global risk from the omicron variant. Its most "jaw-dropping feature" is the 32 mutations that affect the spike protein and could enable it to evade immune defenses from vaccines or antibodies from COVID-19 survivors. Vaccine makers said yesterday they are already working on vaccines that specifically target omicron in case their existing shots are not effective, but it could take months to produce them. Now to the good news: the South African doctor who first raised alarm about the variant says its symptoms are "unusual but mild." An Israeli health official said preliminary reports on people infected with omicron are encouraging: "If it continues this way, this might be a relatively mild illness compared to the delta variant, and paradoxically, if it takes over, it will lead to lower infection rates." Previous variants such as lambda and mu were initially thought to be dangerous, then they disappeared. And Pfizer's CEO said yesterday he has "a very high level of confidence" that his company's COVID-19 treatment pills are effective against omicron. Whether omicron is a game-changer in the pandemic or not, its explosion onto the scene changes not one iota of reality regarding human mortality. Earthquakes still topple churches; the deaths of famous athletes like Lee Elder and a Home Depot employee killed by a forklift remind us of our own fragility. Composer Stephen Sondheim died at the age of ninety-one; clothing designer Virgil Abloh died of cancer at the age of forty-one. Philadelphia is on pace for its deadliest year ever, but no town or city is truly safe. By now you're probably ready for some more good news. You may be thinking that you don't need me to remind you of your mortality. You do. So do I. But our precious hope is that we can be alive in JESUS for eternity. Life is filled with choices -- what career to pursue, what to prepare for dinner, who to date, who to marry, what to name your children -- but there is only one choice that is eternal and that is what will you do with Jesus. If you make HIM your Savior and Lord, He will guide you through all the decisions you face in life and He will welcome you to your eternal home with Him when your last moment on Earth occurs. |
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