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By Judith Hensley

Whether or not COVID-19 was developed in a lab in China whose research was partially funded by organizations and people in the USA, the public may never know. Whether it was deliberately released into society or accidentally got away from the lab in which it was being developed, the public may never know.

Whether it is only one of multiple diseases being developed for biological warfare, we may find out the hard way in the future. History seems to be repeating itself in the area of pestilence, death, and disease, but in ancient times, it was not deliberate.

What we do know for sure is that COVID-19 has become a social weapon that is divisive and destructive. Should we take the vaccine? Should we not take the vaccine? This question is dividing people among churches, families, and friends.  Should I wear a mask, or should I not wear a mask? What if I’ve had COVID-19 and/or the vaccine – should I still wear a mask?

I’m so tired of self-righteous people thinking they have not had covid or no one in their family has had COVID-19 because they are so prayed up and spiritually minded that the virus can’t touch them. And I’m tired of stubborn people saying nobody can make them take the vaccine. I agree with each individual’s right to choose, but I’m still tired of hearing people quarrel about it.

I had a full-blown case of COVID-19 back in December. I’m convinced I was as sick as I could humanly be and not die from it. On top of all the other symptoms that manifested in me, I had the sweats. Every ounce of liquid I managed to get down seemed to come out my pores. A couple of months later, I lost about two thirds of my hair and remained foggy headed in my thinking ability. I am pretty much back to normal all the way around at this point but wonder if I’ll ever be as healthy and whole as I was before I had COVID-19.

My mother had it and was in the hospital ICU COVID-19 ward with pneumonia. I know one thing to be true from my perspective and from hers. I never want to go through that illness again. She is convinced she’d never survive a second round as bad as the first one. She has never regained her strength at age 88.

Dad died in that same time frame, and now I can’t help wondering if he had COVID-19 and we didn’t know it when he passed. My brother, who was right in the middle of all of it and my son (to a smaller degree), never tested positive or manifested any symptoms.

As soon as we were eligible for the vaccine – two-dose Moderna, we all took it.

What is most divisive at this point is all of the people who speak of all the reasons NO ONE should get the vaccine opposed to the ones who say EVERYONE should. I’ve heard all the arguments. They range from the belief that all of this is part of a government conspiracy to inject trackers into anyone who gets a vaccine to being injected with toxins that go throughout the body, attach to all of our cells and sit there waiting to kill or debilitate us in the future. Some think it is the “Mark of the Beast.”

I know the research is incomplete. I know there are legitimate questions about forcing a vaccine on the public which was not thoroughly tested in the normal progression of ways. I realize that the world’s human population has become one big lab experiment for the effectiveness of this vaccine and the long-term effects of having taken it. On the other extreme is the question of how many will die without it?

But I’ve already had the vaccine.  What’s the point in making me and all the others who have taken it feel like fools? What’s the point in making us feel like we are not as spiritually close to God as those who haven’t had it yet? What’s the point in browbeating anyone for or against it?

COVID-19 is a wicked thing loosed on the earth – physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually. Perhaps the worst power it has gained is the ability to divide us from each other by social distancing, attitudes against each other, physical illness, and the individual’s right to choose or reject the vaccine.

COVID-19 is a weapon we must all deal with and fight against in the way we deem appropriate.  My hope is for all of us to attack the virus and not each other.