QUARANTINE BLOG # 25

April 24, 2020

The House of Representatives (boy should that name be changed – they no longer represent “we the people,” they only represent “us the politicians”) voted yesterday to set up a powerful new committee to probe the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic.  Federal response?  Change that to the Trump Administration.  Nancy Pelosi and her cronies put us through an impeachment farce, and now in the middle of a pandemic that has claimed the lives of 50,000 Americans and almost 200,000 people world-wide they are going to start another partisan battle at a time when we desperately need statesmanship, not partisanship.

Speaker Pelosi abruptly made the decision to move forward with the vote after she decided to postpone a vote on an unprecedented change in the House rules to let members vote remotely, saying the matter needed to be reviewed further (and she’s the one who said just pass Obamacare, we’ll find out later what is in it).  Further review?!  Because of the need for social distancing, only a select number of members can enter the House floor at one time, and instead of letting the vote go forward to protect the members, Madam P decided to stage another attack on President Trump.

👉 Carnival’s entertainment department reports that the vast majority of the entertainment team are home.  New global restrictions last week on commercial air travel made it difficult to finish their plan. To help get everyone home, Carnival will be using their cruise ships for repatriation trips.

👉 One of our readers sent me an email after my description of WalMarting.  He  described shopping with his wife: “She keeps getting lost in a supermarket. They have time warps and women disappear. Watch and see men, lost alone at the end of aisles, awaiting the time warp to spew out someone’s wife.”

👉 In case you missed it, the National Football League began its annual draft of college players last night.  And they did it while keeping to the social distancing guidelines.  Teams did not invite prospective draftees to an interview, medical check-up, and work out.  They did it all electronically. 

The first pick went to the Cincinnati Bengals who picked LSU quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow.  The Bengals earned that dubious honor by finishing 2-14 last season (and without a winning season since 2015).  Burrow is viewed as a potential franchise quarterback.

The Steelers (8-8) traded their first round draft pick (#18) two games into last season to get defender Minkah Fitzpatrick from the Miami Dolphins.  So they’ve already had their first rounder.

Three networks – ABC, ESPN, and NFL Network – are broadcasting it.  There is way more interest in this than I can understand.  But I offer this as a public service.

👉 Yesterday in a reply to a comment about my Jeopardy! reference I said, “I miss Art Fleming!”  And then I took a trip down memory lane.

In the show’s first incarnation the Jeopardy! Round began with $10 and went up to $50.  

Double Jeopardy! was $20 to $100.

The answer is – “5,000 episodes of television programs and 48 motion pictures.” 
What is Art Fleming’s resume?

The answer is – “2858.” 
How many shows of Jeopardy! did Art Fleming host?

The answer is – “Too easy, the pace has changed, and only one winner.” 
What three reasons did Art Fleming give for turning down the revival of Jeopardy! in 1983?

For an expanded explanation of that last answer (every time Alex Trebek says “Clue,” I say “Answer,” and one of my offspring says she is going to put “Answer” on my tombstone) check this clip from “Later with Bob Costas.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8E26Mz6o2oY Start at time marker 2:53.

👉 Reverend Mickey Moss, pastor of Macedonia United Methodist Church, has been emailing a daily Psalm during this coronavirus crisis.  Notably, he has been doing it without personal comment. 

Mickey and I are both graduates of Erskine Theological Seminary, where we studied under Dr. Donald Fairbairn.  I remember setting up straight in my chair the morning Dr. Fairbairn said, “The most important thing your people will hear when you preach is not what you have to say about the text.”  He paused to be sure he had our attention, then he continued, “The most important thing your people will hear when you preach is your reading of the Word of God, not your comments about it.”  It took a while for that to sink into my pea brain, but it finally did.  So good on you Mickey for just sending the text.

I’m going to step away from that to comment on one verse of yesterday’s Psalm from Macedonia.

“Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:4 New King James Version).

We spent a few days meditating on Psalm 23 – and will again, that’s the beauty of it – and here the psalmist returns to that metaphor.  Jesus is our Good Shepherd, the Great Shepherd, and the Chief Shepherd, and we are His sheep. 

The Lord keeps His people as a shepherd keeps his flock. A shepherd keeps the sheep by feeding them, by supplying all their needs, and also by guarding them from all their adversaries. Both by night and by day, the shepherd takes great pains and the utmost care to preserve his sheep. If you are one of His people, if you are one of the sheep of His pasture, rest assured that He will take care of you.  You are well kept.

Now, read the whole Psalm, and this time, without comment https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+121&version=NKJV

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