It’s the acrostic mentioned most in PandemicLand; the CDC gets more headlines than AOC. The Centers for Disease Control is one of government’s principal bureaucracies tasked with making people in America live longer.
Covid-19 is just the latest in trendy infectious goblins who come and go across the timeline of history. One of these days, we’ll find the way to make the virus die – so it cannot kill us as well – and we’ll get a break before the next deadly threat shows up.
Before Covid’s high-scoring appearance on the CDC’s Most Unwanted List, heart failure was one of the Grim Reaper’s most effective knock-out punches. About 6.2 million adults in the United States suffer from heart failure; in 2018, it was mentioned on 379,800 death certificates. It’s a club that no one wants to join, but – once inducted for membership – there’s only one way to drop out.
The #1 cause for death among the living is heart failure; not the biological version, but the emotional. Though biological heart failure travels on a one-way street that dead-ends at death, the emotional variety can be reversed by employing the right therapies.
We’ve been in the lab the last few weeks looking closely on the heart disease that thrives on fear. Fear thrives in the absence of trust; the false solution to the problem is to place one’s trust in things or people who are untrustworthy. Discovery of the only proven sources of confidence is key to reversing the condition.
The science of hope – in addition to the discovery of trust – is not a recent breakthrough; the archives of antiquity provide insights about the timeless antidotes to living death through heart failure.
The Psalms – Israel’s hymnal, the songs that condition the heart for life – are packed with insights about where our trust should be anchored. Listen to the prescriptions – still in effect – that described the solution: “The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.” (Psalm 19:7). “Now this I know: The Lord gives victory to his anointed. He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary with the victorious power of his right hand. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.” (Psalm 20:6-7). “Why should I fear when evil days come, when wicked deceivers surround me—those who trust in their wealth and boast of their great riches?” (Psalm 49:5-6).
Zero in on the truth. From Psalm 19: The Law of the Lord – the Scriptures – can be trusted. They make simple people wise. From Psalm 20: The Name of God – His earned reputation – is the source of real strength and power. From Psalm 49: The Provisions of God – His promise to provide all that we need – is the solution for need in the worst of times.
It should come as no surprise that the credentials of today’s spiritual skeptics place them at the pinnacle of scientific recognition. The most intellectually august among us often dismiss those who embrace the God of the Bible – and the Truth of the Scriptures – as simpletons without credibility.
The Psalms are a timeless medicine cabinet for the heart; they also provide caution for the deadly alternative: “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.” (Psalm 14:1-2).
Sounds pretty clear: fools reject God, and God rejects fools. When a person trusts God, hope takes up residence in the heart; when a person dismisses God, in their heart no good thing can exist.
Is science-without-God the proposed solution? The field tests report a failure rate is 100%. Is God and God alone the ultimate solution? The field tests report a 100% efficacy.
Is faith and trust – resulting in hope in the heart – your daily prescription against the decay that is rotting the culture around us?
Bob Shank