Faith healing in old-time, and modern Phoenix


It's April 2nd, 2021 as I write this, and in sixteen days I'll be getting my second COVID-19 vaccination shot. And of course there are people who don't want to do this, for various reasons, and one of the most fascinating reasons is something called "faith healing".

I'm a man of science, and a man of faith, don't get me wrong. I see the two things work together beautifully for human beings like me. When I go into Walgreens and sit in the chair I'm filled with confidence and optimism the same way that I know that it's the right thing for me to go sit in a dentist's chair, but a bit of faith helps me along the way, especially if I'm waiting for the ibuprofen to kick in.

I've experienced some terrible pain in my life, and I know that there's a bit of a gap that we humans need to fill as we wait for the science to work. When I was a little kid, and I expected to feel instantly better after my mom gave me some cough syrup, she would say, "It's medicine, not magic!" to which I would think "Well, why aren't you giving me the magic instead of the medicine?"

Of course, as I got older I understood, but it still hasn't made me any less impatient. I hate to wait, and I'm happy with various techniques that get me to hold on. The human spirit is a very powerful thing, and I know that it factors into recovery from injury. Sometimes the nights can be very dark, and very long. Faith has helped me.

That being said, I have to worry about people who try to replace science with faith. It's nothing new, and people have been asking if medicines are wholly useless for a long time now, and I get it. It's tempting to think of all of the science we don't understand as maybe just being a big scam. I mean, you can't even see a virus without an electron microscope. And even if you showed one to me, I would have no idea what it was.

Faith can be a wonderful thing. And for ye of little faith, I'm here to tell ya, that's just the right dose. Take two vaccines, and call me in the morning.
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