Viruses and Antidotes

I have often pondered the phenomenon of various types of viruses and the manner in which antidotes are developed, deployed and work to combat and eradicate or prevent a particular virus.  This may seem like a random thought to some, but increasingly we are told by medical research agencies and medical science that certain types of viruses are increasing in their potency and threat to human (and animal) health.

Life on planet earth is slowly growing more and more precarious and fragile, it seems.  Of course, in one way or another, it has always been so.  Human life as we have been able to follow history has always had its temporal vulnerabilities to environmental changes.  The amazing thing is that our Creator has endowed human beings with such a strong "survival instinct", an unquenchable thirst and grasping for life, that we have, by His beneficent Providence, been able to come through a host of some of the most amazing and intimidating catastrophes, plagues, wars, genocides and environmental threats imaginable.

In the process of the challenging quest to live on this planet and survive and overcome developments such as those listed above, some of our making and some completely beyond our control, amazing "antidotes" have been discovered, developed and made available that have in some instances seemingly eradicated from human experience certain threats to human health and well-being.  Penicillin, sulfa-drugs, vaccinations and a host of more recent breakthroughs have, at times, given people a sense that anything can be overcome with scientific knowledge, persistence and human ingenuity.  On the other hand, in the last 15 years we are increasingly being warned that there are certain types of "viruses", or "super viruses", that seem to be emerging or morphing in ways and at an increasing rate that medical science has often pondered the possibility of viruses, and consequent diseases and health epidemics, that could potentially become a major threat, once again, to the safety and health of the "global family" the world of our time has become.

As sobering and disturbing as this perspective is, there are also other types of viruses that pose even more radical and deep-seated threats to human well-being and order in societies.
 For example, "computer viruses" have in the last 10 years become an increasingly major threat to the privacy, identity, copyrighted "intellectual properties" and national security of individuals, societies and nations.  The rate at which such viruses and their ability to "hack into" or invade various computer systems, both personal, corporate and governmental, seem to be multiplying in their number, threat levels and rate of growth.  This also has caused grave concerns globally for the way in which we as human beings have become so dependent on technology to live "ordinary" and productive lives.  Antidotes for these type of viruses seem at times to be almost outstripped by the diabolic development and emergence of yet another new "deadlier" trojan or other type of computer virus.  Anti-virus programs for computers of all kinds have developed at a prolific rate in the last few years and the developers and other technological specialists are constantly sweating to stay ahead of the challenge and threat that these types of viruses now pose to the human condition and experience of life in our time.

I am grateful for the untiring efforts and dedication of people in all areas of prevention for their sense of vocation, or calling, to finding ways of eradicating, repairing or preventing these unique types of environmental and technological threats to human happiness, security and health.  But, there is another type of virus that poses more threat to the quality of human existence, meaning and purpose on every level - physically, spiritually, morally, socially, psychologically and emotionally - than any of those we have briefly explored above.

We may have been able to eradicate viruses and other types of disease that cause tuberculosis, measles, smallpox, flus of various kinds and other serious and potentially deadly infections and conditions. We may be, at this moment in time, able to anticipate, repair or maintain a semblance of prevention in computer viruses and the catastrophic consequences some of them can cause; but, can we eradicate the virus of hatred, racial prejudice, genocide, war, abuses of all kinds, suspicion, envy, greed, ambition for power and control, unbridled self-indulgence, addictions, narcissistic self-interest, the pandemic plague of divorce, broken family structures, moral relativism and a host of other conditions that infect the human heart and cause us to become our own worst enemy and our own greatest threat to human happiness, health, well-being and continued meaningful and purposeful existence?

I leave you to ponder this question and the obvious fruit of the virus that has caused these and other life-threatening and life-diminishing effects in human nature and our experience of life.  In part 2 of this topic we will consider much more in-depth the nature of this virus and infection, its origins, its results and the antidote that has been provided and made available to heal, repair, mend, restore and prevent the incalculable damage this particular virus has caused from the beginning of human existence.  Stay tuned for part 2!