On Shots and Spiritual Well-being
I didn’t get a flu shot this year. As of this writing, I haven’t needed it yet. I usually get one, just to be on the safe side, because I shake a lot of hands. Like A LOT. Despite some churches that have put a temporary hold on communion for a bit this season during the worst of the flu outbreak, we have soldiered on in our stoic Episcopalian way, although we have had some additional instruction on how to receive communion in the least plague-facilitating way. And we added hand sanitizer to the pews because we just have to pass the peace. Being a common cup tradition, some might think we’re reckless, however, shaking hands and touching the doors on the way into church is much more likely to pass on our germs with our peace. So what’s the alternative? Cancel the whole shebang and invite people to stay home?
In truth, staying home is not an option for most. It’s tempting, as we hear stories about the onset of a particularly nasty strain of flu, but we still have to report to work, go grocery shopping, and a host of other things. That is why flu shots are so essential and highly recommended. Because the truth of the matter is that we live in community with other human beings and we share our germs more freely than anything else we have. Because of this, it is better to be inoculated, in the hopes that we can avoid a potentially fatal infection, or at least diminish its effects a bit.
Immunizations have changed the world. Granted, the flu shot is a moving target and never completely effective, but it helps to varying degrees depending on the formula used after epidemiologists estimate which strains are likely to strike. Other immunizations, however, have been laser accurate in ending certain diseases that used to kill many people. Smallpox is long gone, and diseases like polio, mumps, and diphtheria are close to eradication. While there are small minorities on the fringes who question the safety of vaccines, we generally recognize that inoculating children and adults against certain diseases is very effective. The trick is making sure everyone gets inoculated. Wherever there are unprotected people, disease can still spread.
Because that’s what diseases do. They are hardwired on the cellular level to replicate and reproduce wherever they find themselves a host. They are incredibly effective at it. They simply do what they are programmed to do, until they meet a host who is not so welcoming; a host who has been pre-programmed, as it were, to resist them; a host who does not have the proper environment in which the disease can latch on and spread. Now I’m no doctor, and there may be medical professionals out there who think my explanation is over simplistic and naïve. My expertise is theology and spirituality, which doesn’t dovetail quite as well with epidemiology.
In fact, spiritual life is quite different. Our human failures and shortcomings, the sinfulness that is seemingly hardwired into us, aren’t really diseases, at least not in the way that the diseases we’ve been discussing are. The ideas behind a vaccine is that you introduce a version of the disease you want to ultimately prevent; that’s what initiates the immune response to reject the real thing. Most of our spiritual shortcomings don’t work that way – we want more of the good (bad) stuff, not less. It seems there is no vaccine for that. But there is a way to boost a healthy spiritual immune system, nonetheless.
Generally speaking, it is good for the soul to engage in regular reflection, prayer, and community. Spiritual vitamin C is found in loving others, especially those hard to love. Such things strengthen us in such a way that we can fight off things that might otherwise make us soul sick. We might find ourselves more resistant to self-indulgent and self-centered ways of living. We might find we have less fear of those who are different. We might find that we are less likely to be drawn into tribalism and isolationism. We might find that we are less reactive to differing ideas and opinions. There a host of things that we can ward off when we have been giving our spirit a workout.
In this season, it’s tempting to want to work constantly to wash the otherness off of us, in the hopes that it keeps us safe. We might be tempted to self-preservation and self-isolation. But in this season, especially, we need love, kind words, and community more than ever. I wasn’t talking about the flu just then; by all means, wash your hands, and be prudent about door handles. Get the flu shot! But above all else, love one another.
