Today’s news (3/25/2025) reported the state Department of Health measles update: There are 9 cases in Oklahoma, with seven confirmed and two more deemed probable among unvaccinated people in northeastern Oklahoma.  I grew up in the age of the miracle of vaccines. I remember lining up to get the smallpox vaccination. I still have the scar on my arm from that. Then came the series of polio shots, and the oral vaccine. There were long lines of us children shuffling along to take the shots that would keep us from being crippled, in an iron lung, or even dying.

As a boy, I managed to win the trifecta of childhood diseases—measles, mumps and chicken pox. I became very ill with the mumps when I was in first grade. It was a double case of the mumps, on both sides. I remember being miserable and spending my time in bed unable to do anything. I missed at least two weeks of school and had home visits from the school nurse and a teacher. The following summer I came down with measles. The measles (rubeola) was more manageable for me than the mumps. At least that’s how I remember it. Then came the chicken pox. I got it, my sisters got it, and then my mother got it. My father was not certain he wanted to come home from work that night. He couldn’t remember if he had ever had chicken pox. Fortunately, he did not come down with it. The following summer I came down with the other form of measles, rubella.

Rubeola measles is the one in the news. It is the one with the most life-threatening complications. These illnesses are preventable and stoppable.  Smallpox and iron lungs are no more. Neither is diphtheria, whooping cough, or typhoid fever in the vaccinated. God is the author of all healing, but He encourages our participation in the process.

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Bless the children. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

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