Sickly Christmas?
OUTSIDE LOOKING IN
by Maureen Baroro-De Guzman, M.D.
Two of the things that can make one ill include the pathogen and the host. In this time of our history, nothing can ever be more concrete than the representation of the Coronavirus-19 (Covid-19) and us (humans) in such a complex host-pathogen interaction.
When illness strikes, however, there is another element that works outside in such interaction. It is the physician who sees it from a different lens. Looking from the outside, he/she identifies the problem and gives a rational solution for it. But the physician, human like any other, could also be just like any hosts – vulnerable.
The question then is, “Is there another one outside looking in?”
Patients, at the end of their line, with their families hoping against hope, longs for nothing more than a blessing from our Creator. A declaration of guilt, a yearning for forgiveness and a prayer of salvation are all there is in the last stretch of life. Important as we claim them to be, but during the strength of our years, these are often overlooked and neglected. And the saddest part is when we may not have the opportunity to do them.
This pandemic, rarely as it may occur, is a clear display of how the One who’s outside looking in shows His power as well as His mercy and grace over His creation.
An overwhelming power that humbles us to submission. Face coverings and physical distancing are called upon. We agree, we follow. Yet, ultimately we submit to the One who determines our protection.
An encompassing mercy and grace that compels us to thirst for more of Him. Stay-at-home work and school, limited income, retrenchments, bankruptcy, depression and many more are the realities of the present time. We encounter them. Yet, ultimately it is the Lord’s mercy and grace that sustains us. We may have little but it could be just what we need. We may have lost, but it could be just the answer to many of our life’s questions.
While many diseases occur in seasons, this pandemic has somehow crossed beyond such borders of time. And yes, He may be outside looking in, but He has never changed, He remains faithful. Yes, He may be outside looking in, but He has also come that He may dwell in our hearts.
This Christmas leads us back to the manger scene—that He, God in the flesh, has lived among us to fulfill the ultimate plan of our salvation.
May we be like the shepherds, humbly believing the angel’s declaration,
“For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11)
May we be like the wise men who came to worship Him alone,
“For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” (Matthew 2:2)
Over and above our physical protection and recovery, God has offered us the greatest gift of all, a treasure that neither moth nor rust corrupt, that neither any virus nor any illness may take, that is our Salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ.
“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name (Jesus Christ) under heaven that has been given among mankind by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
Photo source: scotsman.com