Episode #42: 2 Christopher Chapter 21 - Vaccines

Jan,15 2026

#1: 1 Christopher - Chapter 1 - Matters of Shame ->

2 Christopher - Chapter 21

On the matter of sickness, fear, and the planting of small things

21:1

In the year when the dust returned early

and the children coughed even in summer,

there arose talk among the people

concerning the needle and the vial.

21:2

Some said, "It is unnatural."

Others said, "It is pride."

And some said, "If God wishes a man to live,

no hand of man shall change it."

21:3

They brought these words to Christopher,

for he was old and had seen much sickness,

and they wished him to condemn the practice

or bless it plainly.

21:4

But Christopher did not answer them at once.

He asked instead,

"Who among you keeps seed from the strong harvest

and not only from the weak?"

21:5

A farmer answered,

"We choose the best,

for the field remembers."

21:6

Then Christopher said,

"You already know the teaching."

21:7

And seeing that they did not understand,

he spoke to them in the manner of the land:

21:8

"There is a field that is struck by blight.

Not all at once, but plant by plant.

And the farmer walks the rows

and learns its signs."

21:9

"He gathers seed from those that stood firm,

not because they were untouched,

but because they endured."

21:10

"He plants these among the rest,

not to command the soil,

but to remind it."

21:11

"And when the blight returns,

it finds less to take."

21:12

Some said, "But the seed came from sickness."

And Christopher answered,

"Yes - and from survival."

21:13

Then a woman said,

"Is this not to interfere with God's will?"

21:14

And Christopher replied,

"When you build a windbreak,

do you deny the wind?"

21:15

"When you draw water from a well,

do you offend the rain?"

21:16

"God is not mocked by understanding.

He is mocked only by cruelty

and by refusing mercy when it is offered."

21:17

Then he said,

"There are seeds given by the earth,

and there are seeds learned by watching it.

Both are gifts."

21:18

"And as a man would be a fool

to plant nothing because storms may come,

so is he a fool who rejects protection

because it arrived through study."

21:19

He ended by saying,

"Care for the body as you care for the field.

Not with fear,

but with patience."

21:20

After this, he spoke no more that day.

But many who heard him

brought their children to the doctor without shame,

and some brought themselves.

#1: 1 Christopher - Chapter 1 - Matters of Shame ->