This New Flu Has Well-Known Ancestors

The Lord's Way

In a little over 4 years, from 1 August 1914 to 11 November 1918, 9 million people, most of them young men, died in the shoot-out known today as the First World War. Before the survivors could even get home, they and the rest of the world were falling victim to "The Spanish Lady," a virulent form of flu which killed twice as many people as the world war had just killed. I read a book about it one time. Eery stories about the disease survive to this day. A boy steps into the batter's box, apparently healthy, hits a single, and dies before he can reach first base. Whole families are wiped out. Whole communities, as with the Black Death of 1348, simply cease to be.

We hope and pray for better results this time. Medical science is much better today than it was 91 years ago. Vaccines are being prepared. But the networks said today that the virus grows slowly so that the quantity of vaccine that is needed is not ready yet.

I submit that we can only really depend on the Lord to get us through this trial. True, we should keep working and trying and learning from the experience, but our ultimate faith should be in the God who gave us life.

Repentance has never been a very popular option with nations who are in trouble. But I suspect no nation has ever been in more need of repentance that we are now. We are given a constitution by God through inspired men whom he raised up to that very purpose. But now it seems inconvenient to people who believe they are wiser than the framers of the constitution.

In my lifetime, we have gone from TV with no swearing at all to TV with practically uncensored language. Allusions to immoral behavior could be made in the sixties. Today it is portrayed in some detail. The sacred nature of the marriage contract was still recognized by most Americans when I was a child in the fifties. Today, a major character in a show who does not have a live-in significant other is considered strange.

Then Christmas was the center of dozens of specials and episodes and this was expected and considered to be right. Today, the Grinch is as close to a convert as anyone will see on a Christmas program. I'll be interested to see how the Jim Carrey version of Scrooge deals with the Son of God. He is mentioned many times in the novel. Tiny Tim says that he loved to go to Church, because he thought it might give people pleasure to see him on his crutch and remember who made blind men see and lame beggars walk. Do you suppose that part will make it in there this time?

Everyone used to be taught flag etiquette. Practically everyone knew what half-mast meant. They also knew tht the flag upside down was a cry for help. Those who flew the flag treated it with respect. It was not allowed to become soiled or torn. Today, I often see it displayed but in a damaged, dirty, way. Sometimes I've even seen it touch the ground, something that was unheard of in my youth.

Populations on THIS CONTINENT who have become worldly, casual about spiritual things, and even openly rebellious towards God and godly things, have been wiped out by wars (Jaredites and Nephites) or allowed to be scattered and disinherited (Lamanites.)

So, the disease has ancestors, but so do its victims. We've been promised plagues, calamities, wars, famines, droughts if we didn't turn back to the Lord and live his commandments. I, for one, think it's time we do precisely that. We need God. Everyone needs Him. Even if they don't know it yet.