25th November 2020 - Who would have thought?

Who would have thought?

When celebrating the end of 2019 none of u realised that we were counting down the days until the world would be crippled by a global health crisis. Yet, while we celebrated many great minds were already focused on a novel pathogen that presented a significant potential for harm globally.

Immediately the scientific community jumped to action to determine what the world was about to face. Despite inevitable political intrigue, scientist had rapidly discovered the genetic code of this novel virus and distributed it publicly for global researchers to get a head start to which they took full advantage off. Now as of writing this, various vaccines are now in phase 3 trials in less than a year and numerous clinical trials are under way. So a question I find intriguing, as we cautiously pause mid-way to reflect is; how can so many people be surprised that something so small, so biologically “narrow minded” has caused so much devastation and yet the scientific community was so quick to predict and begin the search for a solution to a virus that was still at the time without a name. Furthermore, does the answer to this broad question provide a unique insight into human nature and the importance and often misunderstood knowledge of Christianity?

One aspect of the initial question is simple: every student across the world studying a biology centred degree will learn the potential and inevitability of novel zoonotic pathogens (biological entities that cause disease which crosses the species border into humans). Scientists were in reality preparing students as well as themselves for the next virus caused pandemic, often referred to as “disease x”; an as of yet unknown virus that will emerge in humans that will spread around the world in the matter of months. Scientists have gone on record a number of times predicting that a respiratory virus will emerge, most likely from china (the location of several epidemics to date) with animals such as bats being an abundant reservoir for many novel viruses that have great pandemic potential. So much effort is put in annually to try and detect novel viruses before they can grip human society, an effort which is instrumental in monitoring the influenza virus in order to engineer relevant vaccines. Therefore, ignorance was certainly not bliss nor an option for biologists and virologists. So why do we find ourselves asking the question “who would have thought?”, when in reality we all should have. Perhaps to revolve a conversation around this simple phrase seems trivial and unwarranted, however, it could point to a flaw in the way people treat prophetic information that can be indicative to the current blind rejection of religion and the bible. Therefore, I suggest that we simply do not brush this aside or get it caught in political intrigue but rather treat it as a potential epidemic: a damaging spread of misunderstanding, misinterpretation and intolerance that we need to be aware of within ourselves and our surroundings. 

The first argument that should be presented is that scientists were sitting on this information and either failed to share or failed to explain it sufficiently well. The transparency of science and its ease of access and understanding is essential to any scientific research. The public understanding of science is critical (a point which is made clear in the current pandemic) and was recognised by Galileo  who challenged the tradition of publishing science in Latin (a language not commonly used by the broadly under educated society of the time). However, I do believe that the society of today has a working understanding of such science that includes the potential of contagion and disease, hence why we teach young people the need to wash their hands frequently. Perhaps the issue isn’t lack of understanding but rather a lack of appreciation, hence why so many posters were erected in March demonstrating how to wash our hands, a seemingly childlike but essential reminder. In times of quarantine the mind wonders and parallels become patterns and experiences can seem like deja vu. One of these parallels include the understanding and appreciation of Christianity. Many people refuse to hear or read the bible because of the environment, individual choices and impression we present as Christians. As Christians we understand the need to spread information of God and the Bible, but we often do not appreciate what that involves and often do not appreciate the individual needs of others who feel secluded or uniquely challenged by God. To illustrate this parallel I would like to use the analogy of teaching kids to wash their hands as an example. Every member of the church will understand the need to support and offer biblical teachings to any young person wiling to receive it. However, is the appreciation for the need to continually support said young people at more incremental steps of their development as universal? Washing your hands of others is not part of the posters you will see in the era of Covid-19 and was never part of the gospel. 

So with the scientific information and prophetic warnings at everyone’s disposal why were we not prepared? One of the biggest global health issues is the emergence of more people who reject the well tested reality of scientific research and replace it with their own preferred reality. In the context of this discussion it seems quite odd since many would interpret Christianity as a replacement of the reality generated by science. However, this interpretation is a result of the misunderstanding I referenced in the previous paragraph. To return to the original point, we are living in a dangerous time were the access to abundant scientific literature allows people to choose what evidence (reliable or not) fits their narrative of choice. Science and its process is highly dynamic, constantly under review in order to uphold its reliability. Ironically, this scientific process is not allowed or at least frowned upon when it comes to various interpretations of Bible passages which seem to conflict with recent scientific discoveries. The experience of the roman centurion who witnessed Jesus’ death comes to mind here (Matthew 27:54). The evidence of Jesus’ identity was evident, and the prophecies written centuries before, and yet the moment of realisation came after witnessing the undeniable. As Christians it is our personal responsibility to arm ourselves with as much reliable information and wisdom as possible to confront the challenges of a modern world, we can’t allow false information about our Faith, Bible or God to spread but rather should actively welcome and encourage anyone to hear the truth as written in the Bible (Proverbs 2:6). 

Hindsight is the affirmation of the responsible and the critique of the fool. Hindsight is inevitable with regards to 2020. We will forever look back on this year as what it could have been, what we could have done differently to save more lives. Hindsight has already made its commonplace within the pandemic; some experts claim that if the UK lockdown was implemented a couple of weeks prior it would have saved thousands of lives. Hindsight is worth nothing to those who have died, however, it could hold value should we learn from our mistakes. However, epidemics and pandemics are not a once in a century event, many of us will remember the SARS, MERS, Swine Flu and Ebola outbreaks, some of which still cripple countries and regions, and yet when a virus began to spread at the turn of the year governments seemed highly unprepared. Hindsight is powerful and compelling; however, it rarely encompasses an event that couldn’t have had an alternative outcome. Therefore, how many warnings did we consciously or subconsciously avoid to lead us to ask ourselves “who would have thought?”. We get one opportunity of life (the greatest gift), of which the definition remains highly contentious but arguably could be defined using the greatest commandment (Matthew 22:36-40): “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.” Therefore, Life could be defined by/as an opportunity to love God and to love others, both of which are perfect giving the certain circumstances we find ourselves in. We can’t go on ignoring prophetic warnings and clear instructions, we must focus our minds on what God has and is saying. Similarly, life in a pandemic has shown us that showing love for our neighbours can be as simple as wearing a mask or staying 2 meters apart. Therefore, we shouldn’t bypass opportunities to learn or get closer to God, nor should we bypass opportunities to show compassion to others as hindsight cannot accomplish this and like this pandemic many only have one shot to get it right.

As clusters of outbreaks pop up across the world they can often be traced back to its origin. An alarming number of spikes come from negligence around the world, ranging from house parties to restaurants. Many of those who are involved would say they didn’t understand or appreciate the ease of which this virus could spread or would argue that the rules permit it but in hindsight they would have done things differently. This reminds me of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:14-31), we have enough information for us to know how to protect ourselves, but it can be easy to give into temptation especially when the modern rules allow it. We need to arm ourselves with wisdom in order to protect ourselves and others from a pandemic as well as to protect our faith and spiritual health. 

As we approach the end of the year, I recall a personal shook to hearing the initial thought of pursuing some form of herd immunity as a strategy to control the pandemic and return to normal. I would like to point out that herd immunity is usually a term reserved within the context of vaccinology and is a consequence of a sufficiently large vaccination programme, and describes a threshold of immunity amongst individual members of a community that would protect those who haven’t developed immunity due to a reduced number of carriers of disease and the virus itself. To allow people to get infected with Covid-19 in order to establish immunity is more appropriately named a pandemic combined with wishful thinking that would have resulted in an unimaginable lose of life. Its alarming that when approached with a pandemic the first response is to let it take its course. Fortunately, scientists intervened and came up with alternative ways to control the spread. 

Similarly, as Christians we shouldn’t allow something problematic to spread within ourselves. We need to identify challenges to our spiritual health early so that we can take action against it in order to help control it before it results in significant damage to it. Therefore, I would like to summarise a few parallels between the pandemic (physical health) and Faith (spiritual health) to conclude with. 

Firstly, we should acknowledge inevitable challenges and threats to our health.

Secondly, we should arm ourselves with wisdom and knowledge in order to deal and cope with these threats.

Thirdly, threats to health should not be done in fractions or alone but rather should be done as part of a united effort were people are not afraid to ask for help and support.

Finally, we should understand and appreciate the unique opportunities that challenges come with and actively pursue them so that we will not look back at how we deal with the suffering of others with regret.