A No Poetry Kind of Day(Just a Little Preaching)

Do you remember “back in the day” when the “news” was about a store opening, the mayor giving a speech, and high school sports coverage? Those were the times when people reported the facts without adding a dramatization and their opinion?  If it was something important, like a “public service announcement,” for example, “free vaccinations at such and such school on this coming Friday at 10:00 am” 

They didn’t come on every few minutes and say, “Your child and your family are at risk of polio if you don’t have this vaccination.  If your child gets polio, thousands of people can die.”  It wasn’t on every TV station, radio station and in every paper, every day for weeks and months. 

I remember during the 1950s schools, parents, towns panicked over polio.  And I also remember after a time (pre-vaccine) parents dreaded the hot summers and no one could go to swimming pools and lots of usual summertime activities.  That panic was not because of the drama and almost frenzied actions of the news media.  It was caused by reality, not drama.  There were posters at schools and doctor offices and even movie theaters. 

I can remember listening to my parents, and my brother talking about polio and children we knew who had contracted polio.  My parents even knew a man who contracted polio and was in an iron lung. 

We all knew it was happening, right here in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but we also responded to what was happening with a sense of respect and knowledge.  The health department and our family doctor gave us instructions, and we respected those instructions. 

I grew up during a time when there were no vaccines except for smallpox and then polio when I think I was maybe ten years old.  We all got the mumps, the measles, chickenpox, and the flu.  Those are some nasty diseases.  And some people didn’t survive. 

My dad was six years old in 1918 when the Spanish flu began.  My dad told me about his school closed when he was seven and in the first grade.  When he told me millions had died, I didn’t believe him, and I researched it.  Millions of people did die.

Then fast forward to the Swine Flu, H1N1, MARS, SARS, Ebola.  Those are harmful viruses too.  Bad stuff!  But I do not remember the unrealistic reporting and drama when all of the above happened. 

I have been trying to wrap my head around the reporting of the new coronavirus.  I cannot help but wonder if the constant bombardment of information is more harmful than helpful.  It’s like when we receive news on winter storms —people go nuts!  The minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day reports create hysteria.  People stock up on bread and milk after a prediction of 3 inches of snow a week before, as if it’s an apocalypse.  Cleaning supplies and hand sanitizer have disappeared from the shelves.  And the one thing that puzzles me the most is the face masks! It’s as if no one listens to the professionals like the CDC or doctors or WHO.  They see the videos and photos of all these people using face masks and lose all sense of reasoning. 

As I ponder the disillusioning things, I see and hear I cannot help but wonder.  Is there no one with common sense these days?  Have we allowed the media to take that away from us because it’s easier to get instant gratification from the news without using our intelligence?

Granted, Social Media has contributed, but we have control over that!  You don’t read, you scroll through, you don’t follow, you unfollow, and with a purposeful intent post as much positive as possible. 

I’m afraid no one listens to the critical information, just the dramatized and sensationalized garbage.  I may sound upset, but please, people, it’s just common sense when dealing with any illness like this!  Wash your hands (which everyone should be doing anyway), stay home from work and school, and if you cough or sneeze, make sure it’s in a tissue or your elbow and don’t touch your face with unwashed hands! 

I believe God gave each of us discernment and knowing how to protect and heal ourselves and our environment.  So above all else, pray, not for healing or protection, but with faith that each of us, our  families, our community, and our world knows this:
"We are one with the healing love of God, we are healthy and whole in every way."  Please know God is behind all things, so stop the frenzied panic!  The experts are working diligently and will let us know essential updates without the media bombarding us every minute of the day. It's important and dangerous, not sensationalism.