These last months, many questions have been raised and continue to arise in relationship with the COVID-19 pandemic: questions about the modes of transmission, the factors contributing to a severe COVID -19 infection, the true mortality risks, the pertinence of mitigation measures, etc.
The answers to those and other questions that many people are raising, have led to behaviors ranging from one extreme (negating that Sars-Cov-2 is a real virus and living as usual) to the other extreme (living in a state of chronic fear and avoiding all contact) with all possible behaviors in between. The fact is that neither negation or carelessness nor intense anxiety are the appropriate responses today.
Contagious diseases have been around for thousands of years, with one of the most dreaded infectious disease of the Antiquity being leprosy. While performing miracles to bring His people out of Egypt, God didn’t take them out of the reality of this world nor spare them the lessons to be gained from sanitation and cleanliness: people showing signs of sickness were to be quarantined, those who touched a dead body were declared unclean for some time and contaminated garments were to be washed or burned.
Similarly, in the writings of Ellen G. White (co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church), faith doesn’t exclude personal responsibility in times of infectious diseases: “When severe sickness enters a family, there is great need of each member's giving strict attention to personal cleanliness, and diet, to preserve himself in a healthful condition, thus fortifying himself against disease. It is also of the greatest importance that the sick-room be properly ventilated”. (Review and Herald, December 5, 1899)
While God invites us to trust Him and to cast our care upon Him, taking care for our health can help in preventing diseases, whether chronic or infectious. There are timeless principles always to be considered.
Besides striving to maintain a balanced approach towards the crisis, personally and collectively, the present time is a strong call to prayer and to ministry.
As stories and personal testimonies can be great sources of motivation and encouragement, the EUD Health Department has asked several leaders of the Inter-European Division if they could share some of “their secrets of wellness”.
Here are the results of the interview.
