Infection Control

We introduced the fist bump in church last Sunday as an alternative to hand-shaking. It seemed like a wise, pro-active move in light of the swine flu fears that are sweeping the nation. Reaction was mixed. Half of the folks continued to shake hands while others had fun touching knuckles or elbowing each other. Privately, several people told me that I was over-reacting to fears stirred up by the media. Others let me know that they thought it was a good way to reassure people who might otherwise stay away from church.
In addition to this new protocol, hand sanitizer bottles can now be found throughout the building and sanitizer dispensers will be attached in various locations once our order arrives. Hand washing instructions have also been placed by every sink.
All of this makes me feel linked to Old Testament times when the Jewish priests functioned not only as spiritual leaders but also as infection control staff. While I'm not willing or able to declare who is and who is not "unclean", I am certainly supportive of our medical community's efforts to mobilize against the H1N1 virus.
My next infection control challenge is to encourage people to sneeze into their sleeves instead of their greeting hand. Now that's "unclean" behaviour that ranks right up there with the curious list of unclean things and practices that you can find in the books of Moses.