As many readers know, I have been hesitant to receive the COVID vaccines. The primary reason is that I already got the virus nine months ago, and my family just got an anti-body test, and we all still have anti-bodies from that event. I am in my late-50s and in good health, and I was mildly sick for just a few days from COVID, so there was no real reason for me to get the vaccine.
But then the Brethren’s announced on Aug. 12: “To provide personal protection from such severe infections, we urge individuals to be vaccinated. Available vaccines have proven to be both safe and effective.“
So, I took the issue to the Lord along with my wife and children. We prayed sincerely. And the next day I was driving alone along a rural road in Colorado, and I got a very strong impression, an undeniable answer in my mind: “If you need to take the vaccine to travel for your job or for other reasons, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be safe for you. If you take it, all will be well.”
At about the same time, my wife, who was not with me, received the same revelation. And my brother and sister-in-law, who were vaccine-hesitant, also received the same revelation around the same time. Wow. The Lord works in mysterious ways.
This is a personal revelation for me. This revelation does not give me license to go around telling other people what they should be doing with their bodies. Note to the many commenters on this blog (comments that have been deleted): mind your own business. Your attempts to shame other people into making the same medical choices you make are pathetic and wrong, and you are nothing but a cowardly bully.
So, the only advice I am going to pass along to others is: be prayerful. Ask the Lord. And if you get a different answer than I got, I will not be surprised, and I will be Ok with that. I already have the antibodies, and I will be vaccinated, so I really don’t have any reason to have an opinion about your medical choices. I wish more busy-bodies understood this basic logic.
Why did the Lord single out the J&J vaccine? I will point out it is more of a traditional vaccine, and according to many reports I have seen the side effects are likely to be less severe. But as I say, this revelation is for me, and if you have different results when you pray, more power to you.
What about masks, you say? Well, the science still says masks are virtually useless against viruses, but, yes, I wear a mask in some situations. But of course your mileage may vary.
Geoff, thank you for sharing your journey with us. Powerful example of personal revelation.
FWIW our MD told my brother in law who also had Covid 9 months ago and tested strong for antibodies, that if he decided to get the V he also suggested the J&J one because side effects seem to be worse with people who have had Covid on the second shot required with the others. He also suggested putting him on some blood thinners before, during and after the shot for a short time. If you’re in the utah county area I can give you his contact info if you want to talk to him.
I’ve said this before … we all need to back off and mind our own business thru this. My state has re-implemented mask mandated this week. My kids already have to wear them 35 hours a week in school. They’re fighting me on wearing them at church. I’ve decided them being in church bare faced is more important. I’m going to be very happy to defend my children if anyone thinks they need to correct them.
This is really interesting thanks for sharing Geoff. When the Church put out that letter urging people to take the vaccine I immediately thought of D&C 9, “you supposed I would give it unto you, when you took NO thought save it was to ask me”, You must study it out in your mind THEN you must ask me etc
I don’t think the Lord wants mindless followers who do not think for themselves, putting very little thought into decisions and only asking for answers when very little study has gone into it. This is what I am seeing with a lot of people I know in regards to this pandemic and these vaccines. blindly following authority, very little thought put into any of it, occasionally asking for an answer. This is not a time to blindly ask and blindly follow, Satan is very cunning and the deception going on right now is off the charts.
I have spent a LOT of time looking into this “pandemic” and these “vaccines”, asking for better discernment so I can come up with the right decision for me. I have made my decision based on that. If part of the purpose of coming to this earth is to grow then I believe God is going to give us some times when the right decisions to make won’t be so obvious and we are going to have to put in the time required, put on our big boy pants and make some hard decisions on our own. I believe that this is probably one of those times
@Matt Burgess: There are so many high IQ, educated, and credentialled/degreed people on all sides of all issues, there is almost no way someone who is not an expert can legitimately “study it out” for many or most of the issues of the day.
Add to that, the fact that major news outlets, of all stripes, have been co-opted by political factions, and practically all of them have been caught in lies. Politicians of all stripes also knowingly lie.
I have a little personal experience and background info on a few subjects, and from that I know for a fact that ALL news outlets are leaving out some very pertinent and damning info on some of the major hot button issues.
One issue has seen disappearances of major network archive footage from Youtube. (John Stossel’s interview of a mail carrier showing him a STACK of absentee ballots all going to the same single-family address.)
I think James 1:5 and the events surrounding Joseph’s first prayer are more applicable on many issues today than Section 9.
Have you heard of the “Gell-Mann effect” ? It’s when a person with first hand knowledge about certain subjects realizes that the media is _always wrong_ (or leaves out pertinent info from their reporting) about the subjects with which he is familar, but he still assumes that the media is correct on all the other subjects with which he is not familiar.
We live in a corrupt time.
What is truth?
Who is truth?
@Bookslinger “There are so many high IQ, educated, and credentialled/degreed people on all sides of all issues, there is almost no way someone who is not an expert can legitimately “study it out” for many or most of the issues of the day.”
I don’t think there is any correlation between being an expert in a field and being able to recognize truth. Just because you are high IQ or educated doesn’t mean you have some sort of special ability to see past the Propaganda and the lies. I believe “trust the experts” or “follow the science” are two of the most misleading and weaponized statements we have today.
With that being said as far as James 1:5 goes, remember Joseph Smith had been studying it out for a LONG time before he went to God in prayer because he was STILL confused. He did everything that he felt he could and couldn’t come up with the right answer so God filled in the blanks. Asking God blindly without “studying it out first” is probably not the pattern that God wants us to follow which was the point I was trying to make in my comment
But are times so dark and deceptive right now that we need to go straight to God without “studying it out” first because we will surely be mislead because the mists of darkness are just too thick?
‘I believe “trust the experts” or “follow the science” are two of the most misleading and weaponized statements we have today.’
Amen.
“But are times so dark and deceptive right now that we need to go straight to God without “studying it out” first because we will surely be mislead because the mists of darkness are just too thick?”
I can’t prove it. But, for secular issues, yeah, that’s my gut-feeling.
That’s why I thought the 1st Pres statement on vaccines was a breath of fresh air. At that point, I knew that the “default” would be to get a vaccine unless an individual is spiritually directed otherwise. And with the choice of vaccine still being subject, if needed, to be considered for a matter of personal revelation.
I agree Joseph did some seeking/study before his first prayer. But he gave up the study, he realized it was just a rabbit hole. And …. as a somewhat parallel to today’s environment, none of the options presented to him up to that point turned out to be totally valid anyway. Whereas Section 9 says to study, then make a decision, then see if the Lord ratifies it in the commonly talked about ternary fashion (yes, no, no answer).
Part of what I’m getting at is… today, all the main secular factions are wrong to at least some degree. None of them are giving us any fully correct options. So, ultimately, eventually, maybe not this very day, but eventually, none of the publicly touted “solutions”‘will be true solutions. (Like in Joseph’s day.) So no matter what option we choose, we’d be wrong. That makes “dialogic” prayer all the more important over the yes/no type of prayer. Most of us would never even see the correct option in our study. (Though if one is really good at creating binary decision trees, I suppose they might still get there.)
One tricky thing in the pandemic issue is that both sides are partially right. Yes, it is a real world-wide medical crisis. And, yes, the statists are taking advantage of it for their long term agenda.
One way to view the 1st Pres message is that widespread vaccine _hesitancy_ could give additional cover/excuse to the statists to further their ultimate goals. Or in other words, vaccination is not the hill on which to make a stand against any supposed statist agenda.
Are the vocal anti-statist/pro-freedom crowd correct in their claim that vaccination _is_ the place to “draw the line” ? I don’t buy into their logic on that. Just for the sake of argument, let’s assume the higher secular struggle is statism vs freedom. Even if so, or even assuming so, then the 1st Pres message leads those who support them as prophets to easily deduce/conclude that vaccination is not the hill for any of the so-called “pro-freedom” crowd to fight/die on.
One difference between catching COVID naturally and getting vaccinated is the adjuvant–a substance in the vaccine that irritates the immune system to produce a stronger immune response. Antibodies from vaccines with adjuvants tend to last longer in the immune system.
An example for me–I had to get the hepatitis B vaccine for my job, but it didn’t result in high enough antibody titre. I had to get a vaccine booster with an adjuvant, and when they tested me I had thousands of times more antibodies. The vaccine contained a small amount of aluminum–not enough to be harmful, but enough to really activate those T cells.
@Bookslinger
“Part of what I’m getting at is… today, all the main secular factions are wrong to at least some degree. None of them are giving us any fully correct options. So, ultimately, eventually, maybe not this very day, but eventually, none of the publicly touted “solutions”‘will be true solutions. (Like in Joseph’s day.) So no matter what option we choose, we’d be wrong. That makes “dialogic” prayer all the more important over the yes/no type of prayer. Most of us would never even see the correct option in our study.”
This reminded me a quote from the Book “The God who weeps” by Terryl Givens
The call to faith, in this light, is not the test of a coy god, waiting to see if we “get it right”. It is the only summons, issued under the only conditions, which can allow us to fully to reveal who we are, what we most love, and what we most devoutly desire. Without constraint, without any form of mental compulsion, the act of belief becomes the freest possible projection of what resides in our hearts
Of course he was referring to faith rather than a secular decision such as taking a vaccine but I think the principle still applies. Its probably more important to God as a parent to see us develop in the decision making process rather than to always make the correct choice because as you said the correct choice may not even exist for that thing or in that moment
Anyways good discussion, you make some valid points, also some things I disagree on, I’m not going to comment on all of them or I would be here writing for days.
Have a good one
Cheers
I like your perspective Geoff.
There are so many examples of things you can participate and believe in, yet you understand that forcing it on others is bad.
If something is forced on someone, it will be psychologically undermined. I think of the Placebo Effect in the negative, ala Alma 32. Without faith, even if the seed is good, it cannot grow. When it comes to vaccines, if you are forced rather than persuaded, it’s more likely to fail. Or the more traditional way of seeing the Placebo Effect, if you believe it will do good, you will maximize the benefit you are already persuaded is there.
Anyway, it’s counterproductive to force these things because coercion always diminishes actual, measurable effectiveness. But this is beyond the ability of busy-body bullies to comprehend, because they believe forcing is what makes things work.
From Boyd Packer,
“As we pointed out that the cake represented the gospel, we asked, ‘Who would like to have some?’ There was always a hungry elder who eagerly volunteered. We called him forward and said, ‘We will serve you first.’ I then sank my fingers into the top of the cake and tore out a large piece. I was careful to clench my fist after tearing it out so that the frosting would ooze through my fingers, and then as the elders sat in total disbelief, I threw the piece of cake to the elder, splattering some frosting down the front of his suit. ‘Would anyone else like some cake?’ I inquired. For some reason, there were no takers.
“Then we produced a crystal dish, a silver fork, a linen napkin, and a beautiful silver serving knife. With great dignity I carefully cut a slice of the cake from the other side, gently set it on the crystal dish, and asked, ‘Would anyone like a piece of cake?’
“The lesson was obvious. It was the same cake in both cases, the same flavor, the same nourishment. The manner of serving either made it inviting, even enticing, or uninviting, even revolting. The cake, we reminded the missionaries, represented the gospel. How were they serving it?”
Loud pro-vaccinators need to get some self-awareness about how they are coming across. It matters. I think Geoff’s approach is far superior.
For those waiting for the vaccines to get full FDA approval, Pfizer is now fully approved.
^^some how that doesn’t make me feel better….
Personally, until the long term human trials are over, I plan on staying in the control group.
The biggest “tell” regarding the push for vaccinations to all regardless of a persons wellbeing (unique conditions) and the Medical risk/benefit analysis is the insistence to jab the Covid Recovered and children. For these 2 populations, the risks far outweighs the benefits to both individuals and to our society. Revisit the approach to these groups to be consistent with current research findings and my skepticism will be greatly reduced. Until then….no thanks.
Hate to be the bearer of bad news, Gerald, but the Pfizer vaccine actually has not received FDA approval, as has been falsely reported in the media. Instead, they did a classic bait-and-switch: They approved something called COMIRNATY, a nearly identical version of the vaccine, which is not being produced, and which is not currently available to the public. This vaccine is legally distinct from the Pfizer vaccine one can go and get right now. The available Pfizer vaccine has merely received an extension on the EUA (Emergency Use Authorization). Make of that what you will…
Jamison, inspired by your comment about the difference between Corminaty and Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines, I did a quick Google search. This came up: https://www.nebraskamed.com/COVID/you-asked-we-answered-are-pfizers-comirnaty-and-biontech-covid-19-vaccines-the-same-or-different
Personally, I’m a hesitant vaccine kind of guy. Not only that, virtually all news organizations have lost credibility with me due to their brazen political slants and deceptive news telling. Consequently I don’t believe anything they say on any subject. I agree with previous posters that we live in times, like Joseph did, where appealing to authority (because of the many discordant voices) will give no reliable answer. We must instead do as Pres. Nelson counseled us and seek to live by revelation.
His comments that we would need to live by revelation to spiritually survive the coming times have proven to be prophetic and applicable sooner than I anticipated. I’m grateful we do have a living prophet. The first presidency’s counsel about vaccines settled the question for me, though it hasn’t changed my low opinion of either the government or news organizations.