April 22, 2020
Thank you, Governor Andy Beshear. Kentucky’s governor said last Thursday that he will rely on the expertise of public health leaders to make any determination as to when Kentucky will reopen [emphasis mine].
Gov. Beshear said, “We owe much of our success in flattening the curve in Kentucky to the sacrifices our families are making. And while we continue to aggressively battle COVID-19, the moment we can begin to take action to reopen parts of our economy, we must do so in a way that ensures every sacrifice made is not squandered.” [emphasis mine].
👉 I wrote yesterday about South Carolina’s governor, Henry McMaster, reopening his state and I said it was too soon. I still believe that.
But I missed that at the same time, Governor Brian Kemp announced plans to restart the Georgia’s this week as well. And Tennessee plans to let businesses begin reopening as soon as next week.
Georgia’s timetable, according to AP’s Jeff Amy, is “one of the most aggressive in the nation.” It would allow gyms, hair salons, bowling alleys and tattoo parlors to reopen as long as owners follow strict social-distancing and hygiene requirements. By Monday, movie theaters may resume selling tickets, and restaurants limited to takeout orders could return to limited dine-in service.
Like McMaster, Kemp is ignoring federal guidelines to see 14 consecutive days of decreasing cases of coronavirus before reopening businesses. If the current rate holds, Georgia will only have 10 days on Friday when these openings are scheduled to take place.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top authority on infectious diseases, warned again yesterday that resuming business too soon risked a fresh spike in infections.
👉 I have told you, haven’t I, that I don’t like to shop? I once bought brand new car, called a salesman I knew, told him what I wanted, went to the lot several hours later, signed the papers and said, “Oh, by the way. What did I buy?” I think Jeff Bezos created Amazon.com just for me.
Well, yesterday the bride of my youth invited me to accompany her on a grocery and prescription pickup run to WalMart. It was something we could do together, as if for the last several weeks we have not been doing everything we’ve been doing together since we are under quarantine. And we’ve been doing a lot of together for coming up on 52 years – good times (actually it started when we met on January 19, 1968, so it’s already been 52 years – and a story for another time).
The shelves featured, although not with abundance, an item that has been missing every time we’ve been in since the quarantine started.
Seeing a very small supply of toilet paper immediately reminded me of a song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YusHyd-duQ by The Surfaris, a California surf rock band with two hit songs.
I was pleased to see that about 8 out 10 folks at Sam Walton’s big store on Washington Road were wearing masks, a great improvement over out last visit. And every WalMart employee I saw were mask wearers as well – except for the three who had their masks secured around their ears and tucked under their chins. I wondered what viruses were going to attack their chins and leave their mouths and noses alone. If it was a fashion statement, it didn’t work.
👉 Speaking of wearing masks, I have noticed that wearing a mask makes me hard of hearing. I repeatedly must ask people to repeat themselves. But hey, maybe that’s why those three WalMarties had their masks under their chins – they could hear better. Insert shoulder shrug emoji here.
👉 If you are looking for something different to wile away your time during these days of shelter in place, and you like Broadway musicals, checkout a new YouTube channel called “The Shows Must Go On.” https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdmPjhKMaXNNeCr1FjuMvag The site gave no indication how long this freebie would last.
Every Friday at 7 p.m. BST (British Standard Time – a.k.a. 2 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time) and continuing for 48 hours, you can watch full-length films of some classic musicals. Many shows are from the great Andrew Lloyd Webber. I’m waiting for the original “Cats.” It is one of my all-time favorites – I’ve seen it live on stage 14 times, and have worn out two cassette tapes of the sound track.
👉 You say opera is your thing. Then you’ll be glad to know that the Metropolitan Opera https://www.metopera.org/ is streaming a different performance every night at 7:30 p.m., and that show will be up for 20 hours. Their collection of high definition performances spans 14 years.
👉 The Pacific Princess reached the Port of Los Angeles on Monday for its remaining passengers to finally disembark. 119 passengers will exit the ship in the days ahead. The disembarkation process in San Pedro may take several days, as the cruise line is coordinating homeward travel plans for all of the guests.
There were no positive cases of COVID-19 onboard. 109 passengers were deemed, under International Air Transport Association medical clearance guidelines, to be medically unfit to undertake a long-haul flight back to the United States from Australia (for reasons unrelated to COVID-19).
👉 As of yesterday at 5:00 p.m., https://www.google.com/search?q=worldwide+covid+19+deaths&rlz=1C1CHBD_enUS778US778&oq=worldwide&aqs=chrome.2.69i57j0l6j69i60.8061j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 the death toll in the United States from the coronavirus was 44,342 – that’s not numbers, that’s people. The death toll worldwide was 174,336 – that’s not numbers, that’s people.
And from 5 o’clock yesterday afternoon until 9 o’clock this morning in the U.S. 1,031 additional people died. Worldwide 4,035 additional people died.
In times like these, whether dealing with death or with life, people increasingly want to hear is what God says.
We don’t have to guess. The Apostle John wrote it down for us: “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going” (John 14:1-4 English Standard Version).
“If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?”
If I can put words into my Savior’s mouth, I think during this pandemic he would say, “Trust me with your life. Don’t be troubled. Trust me more than you trust social distancing. Trust me more than you trust the mask you wear in the grocery store. Trust me.”
Speaking prophetically, Isaiah said about Jesus, “He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart” (Isaiah 14:11 New International Version – emphasis mine). Are you afraid? Snuggle down close into Jesus’s arms and listen to the beating of his heart as he holds you close.
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