Mali and I went out to eat last night...all restaurants were “carry out only” by order of the governor. Food service workers are being laid off and owners are concerned about their ability to weather the storm. No toilet paper in the stores. No hamburger. No shaking hands...social distancing is the new normal. I wash my hands a lot.
This Corona Virus has radically changed our lives...and we aren’t happy. The answer is self-quarantine: stay away from the stuff. But, we love our freedoms and the only thing we allow to curtail them are fear...or the law. For many, even those won’t prevent us from cheating. We don’t really believe we’ll get infected and even if we do, we’d rather “live free than die in chains”.
Rather dramatic...
I understand. Covid-19 won’t get us all. The World Health Organization said that the preliminary R0 (reproduction number) estimate is 1.4 to 2.5, meaning that every person infected could infect between 1.4 and 2.5 people. The mortality rate is estimated at around 2-3%. By comparison, MERS has an R0 less than 1% with a 34% mortality rate. SARS has an R0 of 2-5 with a 9.6%.
What I don’t understand is sin (as a virus) has an R0 of .5 (2 people reproduce one infected soul) yet is, effectively, 100% because the only way to enter this world is through reproduction of existing human DNA (already infected). With a mortality rate of 100%, every human being on earth will die. Yet few people are in a panic.
A smart gambler (if there is such a thing) always plays the odds. As a matter of fact, we all die. As a matter of faith, it’s sin that kills us all. I am most curious that otherwise rational people are willing to toss the dice against such incredible odds. We can choose not to believe it but, we would be “whistling past the graveyard”.
It’s as though we’d rather die on our own terms than live by God’s terms. Of course...in a moment of desperation...we might get a glimpse of this eternal truth and reach out. The good news is the blood of Christ, God’s Son, is the perfect antidote. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God sent not the Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world should be saved through him.
John 3:16-17
John 3:16-17
Live boldly out there...
