QUARANTINE BLOG # 26

April 25, 2020

We begin today with a happy reminder from our “Good News Department.”  There are only eight months until Christmas.  And I will bet you a dollar to a donut my first born child has her shopping done.  I know we’ve been in quarantine for a month, but I’m pretty sure she started on December 26, 2019.

👉 President Donald Trump agrees with me.  He criticized Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s decision to allow many businesses to reopen yesterday, saying the move was premature given the number of virus cases in the state. The President said, “I think it’s too soon.”

👉 More news from the cruise industry.  Two of Carnival’s subsidiary lines won’t set sail again until August 1 at the earliest. Cunard and P&O Cruises were originally planning to restart operations on May 15, but now say the postponement of fresh voyages will continue through July 31 because of official warnings about the COVID-19 hazards associated with travel.  Cunard has also canceled the entire Alaska season, and all departures of the vessel Queen Elizabeth are halted through September 8.

👉 Let me conclude the saga the “Pacific Princess.”  As you know, she docked in San Pedro on April 20, and the 119 guests on board were finally on their way to homes on dry land.  Almost.

The disembarkation process was one more hurdle to overcome.  The 119, who were completely free of the coronavirus, went through a medical check, passport control, and then went back on board to await transportation which had been arranged by Princess – no private arrangements were allowed by California officials.  The actual process took two day to complete.

Oh, and when one couple finally arrived in Fort Lauderdale, they discovered that their luggage did not make their charter flight, and was still in the City of Angels.

👉 Who’s in charge here?  The government of Pakistan gave in to clerics’ demands that mosques be allowed to stay open during the Islamic holy month.

Ramadan, which began April 23, is the holy month in which Muslims crowd into mosques and fast all day, holding feasts after sundown with family and friends.  Those are ripe conditions for the coronavirus to spread, and imams around the world are asking people to stay home.  But in Pakistan, pandemic or no pandemic, hard-line clerics are overriding the government’s nationwide virus lockdown.

“Muslims wait for this month for the whole year so that they can earn maximum rewards from God by fasting and offering our prayers,” said Hazrat Ali, a worshiper in Karachi.

A New York Times report https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/23/world/asia/pakistan-coronavirus-ramadan.html says, “While clerics acknowledge that their mosques are perfect vectors for the coronavirus’s spread, they say they have to protect their bottom line: money and influence.”

Maulana Ataullah Hazravi, a Karachi-based cleric, said “Mosques depend largely on the donations collected during Ramadan.”

👉 I told you in an earlier blog (QB # 18) about Melitta Bentz who invented the coffee filter.  Not only has she made coffee better tasting, she may have discovered the Fountain of Youth.  Well, not the FOY, but a way to live longer, according to a long-term study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.

The study followed over half a million healthy Norwegian men and women between the ages of 20 and 79 over a 20-year period, and determines that filtered coffee is better for you than unfiltered coffee.  That’s bad news for lovers of coffee made with the French press, or cafetière, or those fond of strong Greek and Turkish brewing methods.

Boiling coffee or using a coffee press can actually increase your risk of heart disease because, “Unfiltered coffee contains substances which increase blood cholesterol.  Using a filter removes these and makes heart attacks and premature death less likely,” said study author Dag Thelle. 

I do like coffee from a French press, but I think it will go in the next family yard sale, and I will stick to Keurig.  Dr. J, it sounds like the Nespresso machine is safe, too.

👉 In Psalm 23:4 David said, “I will fear no evil.”  How could he make such a statement?  Because he knew where to look.  Walking through the valley of the shadow of death, David was not looking at his surroundings, or at his circumstances.  He was looking at his Shepherd.

“Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”  The Shepherd’s rod is a small, strong weapon to fight off those who would threaten the sheep.  His staff is that familiar long stick with the crook on the end that guides the sheep, and pulls a wandering sheep from danger to safety.

“You are with me.”  If we experience the deepest darkness imaginable there is no need to be afraid because God promises to be with us, to protect us, to comfort us, to make us secure.

The psalmist confidently declares, “The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Psalm 118:6 NKJV).  The David Sisler paraphrase says, “Because the Lord is on my side, there is no need to be afraid,” but that same paraphraser also knows there are times when he is afraid.  During those times, he relies on another of Israel’s songs: “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.” (Psalm 56:3 NKJV).

Let’s wrap this up with a worship song based on Psalm 56:3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gFQCQcLVpM&list=RD2gFQCQcLVpM&index=1

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