Dear Trinity Episcopal School,
Last Tuesday, our second grade class hosted a wonderful event to give thanks for the staff of UTMB and all they have done for our community throughout this pandemic. The students gathered snacks, goodies, and wrote messages of blessings and then gave them to a wide variety of UTMB staff: doctors, administrators, police officers, and so many more. While the gifts may have been small, I hope the UTMB staff felt the gratitude we all have for their work.
Along those lines, I was so pleased to have the Teen Health Clinic on campus last Thursday administering the COVID-19 vaccine to our eligible students. Our daughter was one of the many students who received a vaccine, joining my wife and me who have been fully vaccinated since the spring.
As a Christian, I believe that vaccines are not only for my personal benefit, but also for the protection of those with whom I live and work. When I receive the COVID-19 vaccine, or my flu shot, or the other recommended vaccines, I am simply living up to my Lord’s command to love my neighbor as myself by doing all I can do to not pass on any of these diseases. Being vaccinated is part of my Christian responsibility.
Furthermore, I have great empathy for those in our community who are at higher risk for the worst effects of COVID-19 and other transmissible diseases. You may not tell by looking at me, but I am also in one of those at-risk categories, leaving me more vulnerable than my healthier neighbors. As a Christian community, I humbly ask that we keep in mind all those who suffer from hidden adversities or troubles.
With peace,
The Rev. Jimmy Abbott
Rector, Trinity Episcopal Church