UPFRONT October 12, 2009 Issue

CONFRONTING FLU—PRAYERFULLY

STEVE GRAHAM,

Last week, the Sentinel looked for answers to the question "What really heals?" We considered the definitive freedom from illness and suffering that Jesus brought to so many people, and discussed how that same Christ-power is the ultimate healing solution, alive today through the study and practice of Christian Science.

I can't help noticing how that set the stage for the topic we're covering this week. We thought it was important to devote special attention to HINI flu (swine flu), which has been dominating the headlines. Its possible impact on the population in the coming months is a source of great concern worldwide.

The articles you're about to read build on that recognition of Jesus' teachings as the practical answer to preventing and curing it. "His healing work wasn't experimental," says Marian English in our first article this week (page 6). "He taught and demonstrated the inseparable link between God and a creation made in God's likeness." This understanding that our protection lies in expressing all the goodness of God is what helped Shelly Richardson confront the threat of a swine flu epidemic at her daughter's ballet camp (page 10). It also helped another writer this week, Amy Farnsworth Nagel, pray about fearful discussions of flu in the online world (page 12).