Clara Barton photo from National Archives
Everywhere I go I am bombarded by warnings about flu – get a shot, get a shot, get a shot. Sneeze into your elbow, cover your mouth, wash your hands, use hand sanitizer. It’s a pandemic. The sky is falling.
Okay, I understand there is alot of sickness out there and I am truly horrified at those who are dying from complications of flu, particularly the children. But stop trying to cause a panic. Let’s all calm down and simply take some precautions.
Why does this come to mind now? Because even though I have not had a flu shot, I do wash my hands alot, and I use hand sanitizer and I try to stay away from sick people (having recently been quite sick with a viral infection myself, my immune system is not what it should be). And, when I’m sick I stay home. These are normal precautions. But what really made me stop and realize that you simply cannot plan for every possibility was what happened at church Sunday.
Sunday was communion day. We take communion by walking up to people who hold out trays which contain little plastic cups of grape juice and trays containing little broken pieces of communion wafers (think Saltines without the salt). Now everyone walks up and takes a little plastic cup — I’m okay with that. But then each one of these people also walk over and put their possibly germy hands into the open tray containing the communion pieces and fish one out, thus leaving their germs on other pieces of communion wafers. So what can we do about that? Offer consecrated individually wrapped packs of Saltines instead? I’m not trying to be sacrilegious here, I’m just saying we can’t possibly cover all the bases. Sometimes I even find myself holding my breath when someone in the congregation close to me sneezes – oh good grief.
There will be germs. Let’s just do the best we can and not overcompensate please. If you need a hug, you can bet your sweet patootie I am still going to give you a hug. Flu or no flu. And I’m going to continue to take my vitamins, eat healthy, drink lots of fluids and hope I don’t get the flu. But I am as of right this moment not going to worry about it any more.
