April 16, 2020
An article which appeared on healthline.com https://www.healthline.com/health-news/more-religious-exemptions-for-vaccinations on November 6, 2019, discussed parents who are rejecting vaccines for their children.
“There are currently 45 U.S. states that allow parents to use religious freedoms protected by the First Amendment to exempt their child from the current vaccine schedules and still attend school.
“Religious exemptions to vaccines are on the rise because fewer parents can cite personal beliefs for why they’re not vaccinating their children. This is occurring even though few religions have stated objections to vaccinating children.
“Nonetheless, some of the larger outbreaks of vaccine preventable infections in recent years have occurred in communities united in, among other things, their religious beliefs.”
Two facts: first, few religions have stated objections to vaccines, and second, larger outbreaks of preventable infections have occurred in communities who refuse the vaccines based on their stated religious beliefs.
A reader of this blog wonders, when a vaccine is distributed to counteract coronavirus, will they refuse it on religious grounds also?
👉 I promised a recap of the Spring Break Olympics which were held at Herrington Manor. Team Oyster (Luke) won gold with 49 points. Team Patriots (Mac) was a close second with 46. Team Fifty Dollar (Amy) took bronze with 31 points. Team Blue Big Brown (Tate and Jack) received honorable mention. Everyone was awarded a trophy.
👉 A reader of this blog who knows of my conservative politics sent me a piece about President Trump and a famous ship which sunk after hitting an iceberg 108 years ago yesterday.
The last known photograph taken of the Titanic as she sailed away from Queenstown (now Cobh) Ireland.
He said he hesitated to send it for fear of offending me. I read it and laughed out loud. I hesitated sharing it with the rest of the readers of the blog, but then President Trump – who, as recently as last Friday – made it clear that governors were the ones mainly responsible for the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, seemed to reverse that on Monday, when he declared that he was in charge and would make the decision about when and how to reopen the country. You’ll understand why that prompted me to share the piece once you read “If President Trump Had Captained the Titanic.”
If Donald Trump were Captain of Titanic:
There isn’t any iceberg.
There was an iceberg but it’s in a totally different ocean.
The iceberg is in this ocean but it will melt very soon.
There is an iceberg but we didn’t hit the iceberg.
We hit the iceberg but the damage will be repaired very shortly.
The iceberg is a Chinese iceberg.
We are taking on water but every passenger who wants a lifeboat can get a lifeboat, and they are beautiful lifeboats.
The lifeboats were left on shore by the last captain of this ship.
Mr. President, members of congress, governors, mayors, whoever. The important thing is that you don’t reopen it too soon just because you can. Don’t undo all the good that all of you have done. Don’t expose us to the pandemic again. Don’t be like a dog lifting his leg to mark his territory.
👉 Yesterday I drove to my second favorite pizza joint – Little Caesars – and got an large Extramostbestest ® Thin Crust Pepperoni pizzas. The original plan was to purchase two to insure there would be leftovers, and with leftovers comes the need for knowledge as to how to reheat them. Ah, the best laid plans ...
I offer four methods from an internet site called Art of Manliness https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/the-best-way-to-reheat-pizza/
Now there are some folks who think reheating cold pizza is a sacrilege. Our first born child eats pizza straight out of the refrigerator, and I think she is teaching her children this awful habit. But it’s her pizza.
But, some like it hot. Pizza. Not the Marilyn Monroe movie. If you’re too young to have seen it, check out the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rI_lUHOCcbc
Now back to reheating.
Retrieve your pizza which you have stored in the refrigerator – covered in plastic and layered between paper towels. Method One: pop it in the microwave on 50% power for one minute. Method Two: preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lay the slice on a rack for 5 minutes. Method Three: set your gas grill to medium-high, let it warm up, and put a slice on the grate for 6 minutes. Method Four (the one recommended by the manly men’s website): preheat a skillet on the stove top on medium, put a slice in, cover the skillet, and let it cook for 6-8 minutes until the cheese is bubbly.
Of course, all four methods presume you have left over pizza. A hard thing to accomplish. In the spirit of journalistic honesty I must confess that we reheated no pizza. We ate the whole thing.
Oh, and my favorite pizza? Apizza di Napoli ® in Aiken. Actually, it’s my favorite stateside pizza. My actual favorite pizza is any place in Italy.
👉 Shelter-in-place and social distancing have obviously produced many changes in the way we live and go about our lives. The cartoon below, shared by one of my readers, speaks to that.
👉 Prayers please for Karen Utsch, Bonnie’s best friend and a reader of this blog. She took a nasty fall yesterday, and is in a lot of pain.
👉 Let’s go back to Psalm 23 to close out today. Verse 2: “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.”
I am blessed to be able to snuggle down under the covers and within a few minutes, drop off to sleep (Bonnie says I snore, but I’ve never heard it). If I were a sheep, I could not do that. For sheep to sleep, everything must be just right. No predators, no annoying bugs buzzing around, and a full belly. And the sheep cannot provide any of those for itself. That’s where the shepherd comes in.
David says of the Lord his shepherd, “He makes me to lie down ... He leads me be side still waters.”
Who is in charge in the pasture? It is not the sheep. It is the shepherd.
Who is in charge in your life?
We have always needed our Shepherd to be in charge, but in these days of coronavirus and all the tension that accompanies it and the way we must currently live, we most certainly need Him to be in charge. That comfortable pasture with the lush green grass and the calm, still waters are His gifts. Now it is time for us to be trusting sheep.
He makes me. He leads me. That’s the way!
-30-
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