by Mary Horn, RN

The amount of information available about the Corona virus seems overwhelming. Yet many of the opinions expressed or reported as facts are by people with no education or experience with medical information on infectious disease and immunizations.

While I don't count myself as an expert, I have spent 50 years of my nursing career giving childhood immunizations. I have seen the introduction of nearly all the current immunizations, except the ones for smallpox and for diptheria, tetanus, and whooping cough (DPT). Smallpox and polio have essentially been wiped out in most of the world because of these vaccines. Some of the other diseases that I saw frequently in the earlier years of my career are very rare today because of the vaccines.

Nevertheless we have seen unprecedented refusal by Americans to get the vaccine. My own parents would not have understood their attitude. They bravely enlisted me in the trials for the Salk polio vaccine because they understood that only an effective vaccine and mass public acceptance could save the world from the effects of this often fatal and crippling disease. Some of us in the trial got the vaccine and some got water, and then the world waited to see if the vaccine group got fewer cases of polio. Of course I got the water. This is essentially the way that all vaccines are tested. My parents understood that we are a part of a worldwide community and that my participation in the vaccine trial helped all of mankind. They understood that participation was “the right thing to do.”

One of the most common reasons for not getting the vaccine is that people say they are waiting to see what the side effects will be. All vaccines are tested first on animals and then on thousands of volunteers before release for public use. By that time, most common side effects are known. Occasionally a rare side effect will surface after the vaccine is used for millions of people and if necessary the vaccine is withdrawn until the event can be studied. This happened with the rotovirus vaccine which caused a surgical condition in a few children. Since the corona vaccine has been given to millions, there is only a small risk that new side effects will surface. On the other hand, we know that corona virus disease causes death and long term damage to lungs, brain, and heart. Seems to me that these people are betting on the wrong horse.

Another common reason to not vaccinate is that “I can still get the disease even if I get the vaccine.” Correct. No vaccine protects 100%. My favorite example was a set of triplets to whom I personally gave the rotovirus vaccine. Months later they came to my office. The baby boy had a bad case of vomiting and diarrhea ( a common symptom with a rotovirus infection) and his 2 sisters were fine. Is that a fault of the vaccine? Probably not. Immunity is influenced by numerous factors and this boy did not respond to the vaccine in the same say as his sisters.

Well here we are with another surge—what could have been a preventable one, now leading to the potential for years of coping with the virus, much like we cope with the illness and death caused by influenza. People will claim their American rights have been taken away if they are required to get the vaccine. Yet we all are required to behave in ways that promote the common good. Seat belts, driving on the right side of the road, and attending school as a child are examples.

Personally having heard so many lame excuses, I think that these adults are just plain scared to get a shot. A writer in a recent Pediatric News suggests that some people's personality style is to resist authority figures no matter what the issue. Others are more typically compliant. It seems to me we Christians have been coping with this human characteristic since the days of Genesis--when Eve disobeyed God and ate the forbidden apple.

By Gary Lindsay

For Eric Falley, God’s calling to ministry was not a Paul on the road to Damascus moment, where a voice said, “Eric, I call thee to ministry.” Instead it came on gradually. With a nagging feeling that the profession he had prepared himself for would not be permanent, he opened himself to possibilities, and St. Paul’s offered him some inspiration.

Eric has roots in both Oregon and Montana. “I think if you combined the populations of Wyoming and Montana you might get half the population of Iowa,” he said. After growing up in Oregon, his family moved to Montana when he started high school. Two major influences shaped his early life, a loving family and the United Church of Christ. Eric describes the United Church of Christ he knew as more Evangelical than Methodism, but more open-minded than its congregations in the Bible belt. The beliefs of his family were in a God of love, following the compass of the example of Jesus Christ. Through his family he has always had a relationship with God.

After high school in Montana he attended college at Oklahoma Christian University studying both music and mathematics education. He eventually realized that neither field suited him well, but after seven years he needed to graduate. These years of study were not wasted, Eric said, as the education at OCU through both his religion professors and his classmates opened his world to new truths and exposed some contradictions and paradoxes in his earlier beliefs.  It was a long transition, Eric, said, “But I had grown up believing in a God of love, that compass guided me through my faith transformation.”

After graduating with degrees in math and music education, Eric returned home still looking for a career path. He realized that he had the skills to work in the insurance industry as an actuary. After two more years of study he applied to many companies and landed a job in Cedar Rapids with Transamerica.

In April of 2019 he began shopping for churches but for a while his best match was what he called the church of nature. He was frustrated looking for a church that was compatible with his theology and that also had a number of people his age. Many of the mainline churches matched his beliefs but the majority of the congregations were older. He realized that the church of nature was not the spiritual community that he was seeking, so he asked himself of the places he had visited, where did he feel most welcomed and comfortable, and that was St. Paul’s. The music program, the open atmosphere, the classes and the leadership of the pastors were all part of this level of comfort, Eric said.

He felt inspired by Pastor Sherrie and Pastor Jonathan and their leadership and preaching styles. He began to think, “Maybe I could do that, too.” His pastors in the Church of Christ had fit a different mold that did not suit Eric well. These pastors had mastered the dynamic, autocratic leadership style needed to convince a congregation to hire them. Eric said, “My picture of a pastor growing up was very different than what I saw at St. Paul’s and I began to think, “Oh, Pastors can also lead this way, and maybe I could do that too.”

As he began to think about this new type of leadership embodied by our pastors, Eric thought back and realized that he recognized that he had brought pastor-like behaviors to many of his experiences where his leadership style helped grow communities.  “I wanted to develop that community to have a special connection to each other and be able to mold into something that was more than a sum of its parts and to create communities where people feel safe and feel loved.” The ability to do this was something Eric believes he has always had but didn’t recognize the gift until he heard God’s call.

So, what lies ahead? The first step is three years of seminary study at Boston University with the goal of becoming an ordained United Methodist Minister. He wraps up his work at Transamerica next week and then will return to Montana for two to three weeks, and then he will take a road trip with family to California. From there the family will fly across the country to move him into Boston to begin his new adventure. In his studies in Boston, Eric hopes to find a collaborating community of people like him and explore answers to some big questions: “What does a spiritual community look like? What kind of things to they do? What helps them grow? What helps them actually produce fruit?

Eric doesn’t know just where the winding path of his ministry will lead, but he said that he will always hold special memories of St. Paul’s as the place he received his call, and he hopes to always stay connected here.

If you want to watch the conversation between Eric and Gary, you can watch it here.