I鈥檓 all tangled up, but not in Christmas lights. In information and misinformation. In wondering how my Christian faith intersects with the point of a needle. A vaccination needle.
The COVID-19 vaccine hovers on the world鈥檚 horizon, a Messiah-reminiscent shaft of hope piercing our long pandemic night. But like all previous vaccinations, it brings controversy, questions, rumours and dark perspectives.
鈥淭oo fast,鈥� say some. 鈥淒o you know what鈥檚 IN that? No way I鈥檓 getting that needle. People have died from it already!鈥�
I heard enough to make me ponder whether to take the vaccine. Is it safe? Is it ethical? A morning spent reading online medical journals satisfied me there was little to fear. But a few days later, I discussed the vaccination with someone holding the opposite opinion. I did more searching and found research on the other side that seemed equally credible.
Puzzled, I shot some of the information over to my daughter, Amanda. She has a long-held passion for medical research. In high school, before easy access to the internet, she haunted the library, researching anything she could find related to her own chronic conditions; so much that our doctors learned from her. I respect that she delves into information and articles from varying perspectives.
鈥淲hat do you think of this?鈥� I asked explaining my questions. 鈥淚t鈥檚 troubling to me that we can鈥檛 know everything and thus can鈥檛 be certain of anything, except that we are confused,鈥� I told her.
鈥淟OL,鈥� she texted back, which I think means 鈥淟oads of laughter,鈥� or something similar. 鈥淟augh out loud?鈥� maybe.
The Bible tells us that our bodies are temples in which God鈥檚 spirit dwells, and that what we put in there matters. I wanted solid answers. I wanted a clear perspective. I wanted black and white. I wanted to know who to believe.
She responded with what I鈥檝e told countless people myself: 鈥淲e make the best decisions we can with the information we have at the time.鈥�
鈥淎bsolutely,鈥� I texted back. 鈥淏ut I know I鈥檓 sometimes guilty of burying my head in the sand in order to live by a more convenient or acceptable (to me) set of facts. When someone knowledgeable and trustworthy challenges me, perhaps I need to dig a little deeper into the uncomfortable information.鈥�
鈥淪ometimes the contrasting information out there has been twisted and manipulated,鈥� she responded, 鈥渦sing facts and studies supporting one鈥檚 chosen opinion and ignoring others that don鈥檛.鈥�
She鈥檚 right, and people on both sides of many issues do that. (Consider politics.) And so, the problem of separating solid information from misinformation remains. We dance with mystery, this side of Heaven, and few people I know enjoy the tango.
聽I will wrestle through this question, through prayer and as solid a body of information I can access. As Amanda reminded me, I鈥檒l make the best decision I can. Nevertheless, I could still get it wrong.
God doesn鈥檛 expect us to know everything, as much as we may wish to. How reassuring that we can leave all our wonders and tangles in the hands of the only one who does.
