View Full Version : Can God Protect You From Covid?
With the second wave other family members have now joined me in trying to get my mother to cut back on her shopping trips. Last week she said she had enough food and only would go to one grocery store per week, but as I suspected she backtracked and decided that just one day after shopping at one supermarket that she would go to a second store.
(I bought her a freezer for Christmas, already delivered, so she could have stocked up at the first store.)
Last night she realized with a major storm coming the store would be crowded but she still wanted to go. So she decided to pray about it.
In the morning her friend called her to say it was too cold to walk. My mother took this as a sign from God that since she won't be walking and has extra time in her day she definitely should go to the store and she did.
Do you think God protected her from any exposure to covid?
I don’t think I would trust anybody who claimed to have a copy of God’s to-do list.
catherine
12-17-20, 11:31am
God helps those who help themselves. Sounds like you and your family can't help her, either. She's set on doing what she wants to do, which is her right, as frustrating as it is to loved ones.
happystuff
12-17-20, 11:35am
Do you think God protected her from any exposure to covid?
My bet would be that people who practiced social distancing and wore masks - you know, those things you rail against and whine about all the time - MAY have helped protect her from covid. I guess she will find out in about 2 weeks.
I believe in God, and I believe He loves us and looks after us and is love. I also believe that we are in no way capable of understanding God's mind and that the workings of divine grace are incalculable. I believe that God gave you to her and you bought her the freezer because you love her, and that is an expression of God's love--I do believe that. As for how God acts in her life, I have no way of knowing beyond that.
I believe that we live on after this life, and we know more then--that now we see through a glass darkly, and then face to face.
I believe I will know more about the questions you are asking then, after I die.
But God is present with us, and his love and care are ongoing and always with us. That I believe.
Chicken lady
12-17-20, 12:47pm
I offer you either a joke or a parable, depending on your beliefs.
there was a huge storm coming, and the weather service had issued a flood warning. The town was put under an evacuation order, but when a man’s neighbors came by to check on him before leaving, he told them he was staying put. “God will protect me.”
the storm arrived and the streets flooded as predicted. The man was trapped in his second story, looking out the window at the rising waters when a rescue boat appeared and offered to throw him a line and take him to safety. But the man refused, saying “god will protect me.”
later, when the man had been forced onto his roof, a helicopter appeared and a rescuer attempted to belay down to him, but the man waved them off, saying “God will protect me.”
When the man drowned and went to meet his lord, he asked “God, I put my faith in you. Why didn’t you protect me?”
and the lord answered “I sent you an evacuations order, a boat, and a helicopter. What were you waiting for?”
iris lilies
12-17-20, 12:57pm
This reminds me of the current stupid problem in my neighborhood where the young man who owns two dogs tells everyone that it would be gods will if they get hit by a car because he constantly let them roam free. It is gods will.
Especially since he and his ghetto friends race down all the streets surrounding the park which the dogs run to, I would think it’s more of his doing.
These are black dogs. I guess these black lives don’t matter.
I don't, people around here have to been praying for the Broncos to win and it finally happened. I wonder how many pray for a sports victory when only half can win.
Seriously, as they say, God works in mysterious ways. We may not know the purpose. Job suffered as a test of faith. Since we've been promised the possibility of an afterlife, I don't know that survival has the high priority with God that us mortals might give it. I'd say, live a good life and he will help those who help themselves.
I do believe in a mind body connection and the possibility that if a person thinks they are protected, they might have an edge. Sort of the placebo effect.
For 25 years hundreds of prayers went up for me to be healed of asthma. I used daily inhalers for 95% of those years.
The allergist who treated me in my 30th - 35th year of that disease got to the bottom of it and I haven’t needed daily inhalers for the last 4 years.
I credit science, not God.
rosarugosa
12-18-20, 6:37am
No.
Teacher Terry
12-18-20, 11:51am
Tammy, curious how your doctor did it as I have asthma caused by allergies.
If we start with the assumption that God exists how would this being choose who to save? Wouldn’t the children be the likely ones? Why would evil and disease even exist? I was raised religious and have read the Bible. The mere existence of a powerful being defies science and logic. But it’s comforting to believe.
iris lilies
12-18-20, 12:35pm
Tammy, curious how your doctor did it as I have asthma caused by allergies. If we start with the assumption that God exists how would this being choose who to save? Wouldn’t the children be the likely ones? Why would evil and disease even exist? I was raised religious and have read the Bible. The mere existence of a powerful being defies science and logic. But it’s comforting to believe.
What, are you asking Tammy to explain the logic of those who think they can discern “God’s to- do list”, as Ldahl calls it? Why does Tammy have the answer? If you were religious surely you have the answer.
Teacher Terry
12-18-20, 1:00pm
I was asking Tammy how her doctor helped her asthma only. The rest was answering Y’s question. I just separated the paragraphs since it appears to be confusing.
iris lilies
12-18-20, 1:04pm
I was asking Tammy how her doctor helped her asthma only. The rest was answering Y’s question. I just separated the paragraphs since it appears to be confusing.
oh ok. But I don’t think jeppy is really questioning I good saves us from Covid, how and why.
Is there free will?
What is the nature of God?
Simplemind
12-18-20, 2:59pm
Could God save you? Sure he could. We all die of something. Some of those things are much more gruesome than Covid yet they have been going on since day one. Does he like to play spin the wheel on who get their prayers answered? I doubt it.
We have free will and I believe he likes to see how we deal with all the positives and negatives of it. Consequences are our reward here on earth. Raised religious I now consider myself spiritual. I feel I've received strength when I've needed it but I was still the one who had to do the work. I don't believe in passively "handing it over".
Is there free will?
What is the nature of God?
I think so; but it could just be my programming talking.
If I understood the nature of God, I wouldn’t be wasting my time in this plane of existence.
Is there free will?
I think so.
What is the nature of God?I think this is one of the most interesting questions ever asked. I've always been intrigued by Jesus' reference to himself as the son of man. To me, that is the key to the nature of God in that God's nature exists in every person and shows itself in our goodness, love and inherent humanity. In my mind, that collective humanity is God.
So, in response to the OP, 'Can God Protect You From Covid?' : Yes, but it requires each of us to do our part.
Tammy, curious how your doctor did it as I have asthma caused by allergies.
If we start with the assumption that God exists how would this being choose who to save? Wouldn’t the children be the likely ones? Why would evil and disease even exist? I was raised religious and have read the Bible. The mere existence of a powerful being defies science and logic. But it’s comforting to believe.
4-5 years of monthly allergy shots. During that time I continued with daily long acting inhalers, and rescue inhalers as needed. I very gradually got better to the point where the doc said “let’s stop using the inhalers completely and see what happens”. And since 2016 I only need albuterol a few times a year when I get a cold or am exposed to cats/dust mites/ etc.
For me, it wasn’t primary asthma. It was all secondary to allergies. It took a few rounds of skin prick allergy tests every few years and monthly injections to discover that.
I stopped the shots in July when I got covid. Had a phone appt with allergy doc in October. I’m still doing great with no asthma symptoms, so we are watching how I do without shots. Many people can stop them after 2-10 years, and not need them again,
Teacher Terry
12-18-20, 4:54pm
Tammy, so glad it worked so well for you. My asthma is strictly allergy induced. The shots didn’t work and now the allergist is doing allergy drops that my insurance won’t pay for. They really help my allergies. My insurance increased the monthly cost of advair from 40/month to 400. The generic is 200. So now I take generic singular pill and use rescue inhaler more. My doctor said if I moved back to a cold climate where everything dies in winter the asthma might go away.
Sounds familiar. For about 20 years I used advair and the last half of the time it was all my cost unless I had reached my several thousand dollar deductible that year. So 80% of the time, for a decade, I paid 350 a month for advair. More than a car payment.
Teacher Terry
12-18-20, 11:38pm
That’s terrible Tammy.
The USA medical system is ridiculous. I was ensured with the best health insurance through my work all that time.
There are psych meds that cost over $1000 a month.
JaneV2.0
12-19-20, 12:21pm
The USA medical system is ridiculous. I was ensured with the best health insurance through my work all that time.
There are psych meds that cost over $1000 a month.
I wonder what they cost to manufacture--50 cents? A dollar? Pharma probably got their R & D free--or nearly so--via a university somewhere. Of course they still have to pay for the incessant TV spots. :(
I wonder what they cost to manufacture--50 cents? A dollar? Pharma probably got their R & D free--or nearly so--via a university somewhere. Of course they still have to pay for the incessant TV spots. :(
Having worked in pharma for a dozen years I can affirm there's a little more to the expense picture than that. Granted I'm only familiar with a small company with a half dozen products but in my experience you have to hire an army of quality control, quality assurance, auditors, microbiologists, chemists, chemical engineers, mechanical engineers, validation staff, maintenance personnel, etc., for each product. At the same time you need to build out your manufacturing space, engineer and design custom equipment, bring in a host of consultants to assist in specific areas as you test and validate every piece of equipment and process, all the while producing and disposing of product as you tweak your processes to meet GMP and FDA guidelines. Finally, after a 5 to 7 year wait, you may or may not receive FDA approval for your product. If you do receive approval, your first batch of product may have cost hundreds of millions of dollars to produce, if you do not receive approval, those hundreds of millions of dollars are reassigned to another product.
It's an expensive business.
I’ve been surprised at how many progressive pundits have been rushing to the op-ed barricades out of fear that the public might be impressed with how quickly “Big Pharma” developed and tested the vaccines coming on line. From the anti-vaccine and anti-capitalism fringes to the more mainstream medical socialism types, they seem eager to downplay the achievement.
I say three cheers for Pharma.
iris lilies
12-19-20, 1:34pm
I’ve been surprised at how many progressive pundits have been rushing to the op-ed barricades out of fear that the public might be impressed with how quickly “Big Pharma” developed and tested the vaccines coming on line. From the anti-vaccine and anti-capitalism fringes to the more mainstream medical socialism types, they seem eager to downplay the achievement.
I say three cheers for Pharma.
When my liberal Mother used to start her rant about big Pharma, I often told her hey mom, just buy some sPharma stock then if they’re making so much money. Go get in on that deal. She didn’t have an answer for that.
happystuff
12-19-20, 2:47pm
Having worked in pharma for a dozen years I can affirm there's a little more to the expense picture than that. Granted I'm only familiar with a small company with a half dozen products but in my experience you have to hire an army of quality control, quality assurance, auditors, microbiologists, chemists, chemical engineers, mechanical engineers, validation staff, maintenance personnel, etc., for each product. At the same time you need to build out your manufacturing space, engineer and design custom equipment, bring in a host of consultants to assist in specific areas as you test and validate every piece of equipment and process, all the while producing and disposing of product as you tweak your processes to meet GMP and FDA guidelines. Finally, after a 5 to 7 year wait, you may or may not receive FDA approval for your product. If you do receive approval, your first batch of product may have cost hundreds of millions of dollars to produce, if you do not receive approval, those hundreds of millions of dollars are reassigned to another product.
It's an expensive business.
So these companies receive no outside funding - grants, donations, government financing, etc. - at all during any stage of the process?
So these companies receive no outside funding - grants, donations, government financing, etc. - at all during any stage of the process?The one I'm familiar with didn't. The closest we came was a small state tax abatement over a 5 year period, given to assist in a $50M expansion project, including 100 new jobs, for a product expansion that 7 years later still hasn't been granted FDA approval.
happystuff
12-19-20, 2:57pm
The one I'm familiar with didn't. The closest we came was a small state tax abatement over a 5 year period, given to assist in a $50M expansion project, including 100 new jobs, for a product expansion that 7 years later still hasn't been granted FDA approval.
Interesting. Thanks.
I guess I don't understand how this price thing with Advair represents r and d etc. I used to take Advair, and then the price kept going up to where the last time I was prescribed it, the copay was 356 dollars a month. I said I couldn't afford that and walked out of the pharmacy.
But I took it for years, and it was affordable, with an affordable copay. So I don't get how the price skyrocketing--and that's three people on this board alone who stopped taking it because it was unaffordable-- is a product of the costs the company ran up in developing the drug.
Yes there was a time it was than 100 for advair.
Pricing with pharmaceuticals is not straight forward.
Covid vaccine had lots of govt money - but usually development of new meds are a for profit business.
But then there’s walkathons that raise money to develop new treatments.
I’ve been a nurse for 23 years and almost everything about medical related billing remains a mystery.
sweetana3
12-19-20, 5:39pm
I am taking the generic Advair and it is working fine. Same dosage and similar container.
catherine
12-19-20, 6:40pm
But I took it for years, and it was affordable, with an affordable copay. So I don't get how the price skyrocketing--and that's three people on this board alone who stopped taking it because it was unaffordable-- is a product of the costs the company ran up in developing the drug.
There are three factors at work:
a) Pharma companies have very little time to recoup their investments--so that's where the R&D comes in. They pay a fortune in R&D, clinical trials, etc. and the drug that is being tested through three very lengthy and costly trials might not cut the mustard. So they have to stay profitable and sometimes that means inflating the cost of other drugs to cover all the research: for the winners as well as the losers.
b) There is no one person taking money out of their pocket to pay, so costs of drugs will inflate until SOMEONE cries OUCH! That doesn't happen often--but occasionally you get a highly visible situation like the insulin "scandal".
c) Like every other market, Pharma charges what the market will bear--but the stakeholders in the market are many, as I just mentioned. I am currently working on a project where my client is testing how much patients would be willing to pay for a certain healthcare product every month. And that's just the patient out-of-pocket cost. It doesn't mean that's what the product will cost--it will cost much, much more--probably 4 times more. But the insurance company will pay for it, most likely, unless they feel it's not worth the price.
So if someone decided to scream bloody murder over the rising cost of Advair and there was a lot of negative press about it, it may bring pressure to GSK to do something about it.
As Tammy said, pricing of drugs is not straightforward AT ALL.
I get angry even thinking about companies making billions off desperate people; I am perpetually thankful for my good health, for that reason (and many others).
I am taking the generic Advair and it is working fine. Same dosage and similar container.
I had heard that it was going generic soon - glad to hear it happened.
Teacher Terry
12-20-20, 10:58am
The generic is 200/month for me or 100/some months on GoodRx. My insurance told my doctor to prescribe the 2 generic medications that are in advair separately. She tried it and it was just as expensive. I just quit taking it and went from using my rescue inhaler once a year to weekly during peak allergy season.
happystuff
12-20-20, 11:00am
I take a thyroid medication that used to be reasonable and then apparently the drug was sold to a different company (at least that is what I was told) and the price more than quadrupled! I had to switch and live with side effects from other versions. Am back on the good one only because of the VA.
And I recall the same thing happening with epi pens.
As Tybee pointed out, these are medicines that have been around for a long, long time with reasonable pricing, then... Boom! the prices sky-rocketed. As my medication is life-long, it's not like I can stop taking it... just seems strange.
I take a thyroid medication that used to be reasonable and then apparently the drug was sold to a different company (at least that is what I was told) and the price more than quadrupled! I had to switch and live with side effects from other versions. Am back on the good one only because of the VA.
And I recall the same thing happening with epi pens.
As Tybee pointed out, these are medicines that have been around for a long, long time with reasonable pricing, then... Boom! the prices sky-rocketed. As my medication is life-long, it's not like I can stop taking it... just seems strange.
It doesn't seem strange to me; it's all about the profit. We need to change the system--at this point, we're all just a bunch of marks.
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