The Modern Era

Most of us don't give it much thought. Most of us don't have need to. But should we?

Medical science. Modern technology. The industrial age.

In some cases, we're sorry for the "advances" that have come along with all that. Much of it has taken the simplicity out of life. Made sin more accessible... more prominent... acceptable.

Our world has changed more in the last hundred plus years than in the thousand (maybe thousands) before that. Overall, I'd say that we are glad for this... any negative that may come from it stems more from our sin nature and the depravity of man than from the "new" itself.

We are glad for it. But are we grateful? Truly grateful?

I know I don't usually give it much thought. I flip a switch, lights go on. I lift the lever, water comes out of the facet... clean water at that. I am so grateful!

It takes my husband only 4-5 minutes to get to work in the morning... in a car. Imagine how much more time it would take on foot (since we don't have a place for horses where we live.) Tonight, Lord willing, we will use that same car to bring home the food we've gathered... from a grocery store. (If we were dependent on our garden this year, we would starve... it was a giant flop!) I am so grateful!

There are so many other things we could pause to reflect on. To be grateful for. To say a quiet "Thank you Lord." I challenge you to think through a few of the ones that affect you the most and pause in gratefulness.

This past month, though, I've paused to reflect on another one. Medical science. Modern medicine. Sometimes I think they try to do too much. That perhaps we're better off fighting some of these bugs ourselves. That we over medicate. That it sometimes does more harm than good. It's possible.

But then I slow to reflect. Look beyond the surface layer. Then I wonder.

What would our lives be like without modern medicine?

There are so many precious lives in our church whose fight against cancer would have been over long ago... assuming we even knew what happened to them. Friends involved in car accidents would have no chance for healing... for the life they lived before. Infection would run unchecked in our bodies and on our limbs.

I am grateful for medicine.

These are all things I've never really paused to think about. But they are all things I should hold close, praise our Lord for and be ever grateful because of. Let me share a few personal ones.

Without medicine, Tornado may not have lived through is first year... failure to thrive. Wasn't gaining weight. Spitting up most, of not all his feedings. I am grateful!

Without medicine, Tornado may not have survived his first asthma attack. Or his second. Or his third.... You get the idea. I am grateful!

Without medicine, we might not know all the things he's allergic to. Might not know to avoid them. Might not know what causes the rashes, the hives. Might not know that eating peanuts or shellfish (we discovered this allergy a couple weeks ago after having shrimp for dinner) one more time could bring death... without the medicines. I am grateful!

Sure, we could spend our time thinking through what actually causes all these allergies and illnesses. We could talk about where we would be where we are today if these pollutants or those chemicals weren't around. And we sometimes do as we work to avoid them. But for today...

Today, I choose to be grateful. Grateful for the advances our Creator has helped us to make as a people. Grateful for the wisdom and ingenuity He has given so many over the decades to bring us to what we know and have today.

I choose gratitude!

What can you choose to be grateful for today? How would your life be different without "progress"?




6. inhalers that quiet wheezing

7. scales that chart growth

8. tests that show allergies

9. Epi-pens for just in case

10. doctors who know more than we do

Labels: Gratitude, Reflections

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 1:13 PM