QUARANTINE BLOG #9

April 8, 2020

Quarantine is a word we have become all too familiar with since the outbreak of the coronavirus and its nearly worldwide spread.  Today, people traveling from infected areas are kept in isolation – quarantine – for 14 days.  The history of the word “quarantine” stipulates a different number, 40, deriving from the Italian quarantina (giorni), or “space of 40 (days).”

Its origin is actually Venice where the Venetian form is “quarentena.”  While the practice of separating the sick from the healthy was noted in the Bible – in Leviticus – the origin of the term “quarantine” stems from the time of the bubonic plague, or Black Death, which started in 1343 and spread devastatingly across continental Europe.  The Great Council of the Venice passed a law requiring that ships arriving from plague-affected areas be isolated for 40 days.  Hence, a quarantine.  And now you know the rest of the story, as the late, great Paul Harvey used to say.

👉 One of the young women at Macedonia United Methodist Church posted a praise report about a friend who got a great report from the doctors – cancer free!  She concluded with, “In this time of chaos and fear, I thought we could all be reminded that God is still healing and at work!”  Amen!

👉 We heard this week from Brian and Elizabeth, friends we met on a cruise down the Left Coast from Vancouver to southern California several years ago.  Later, on a cruise to Alaska, they met us in Victoria, their beautiful home town, and hosted us around the city – an incredible visit.  Glad to know you are well and safely hunkered down!

A couple they know are still trying to get back home after their around the world cruise on the Pacific Princess (our favorite ship) was scuttled by the coronavirus.  Their ETA for Los Angeles is the April 19th.  As we pray for each other wherever we are in the world, please keep them, and others still at sea, in your prayers.

Pacific Princess – capacity of 640 passengers – in front of the Grand Princess during happier days.

👉 So, what are you doing during these days of shelter in place?  I am constructing the Legos International Space Station (since the Lego Room is absent its usual inhabitants, I am trying to keep up the good work).  She Who Must Be Obeyed is raking leaves and crocheting.  Moms and grandmothers and aunts whom I know have assumed the role of school teacher.  Essential workers – grocery store, delivery service, banking – are at work, doing the things we need to have near normalcy.  And ...

At Woodburn Palazzetto they assembled a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle in under 9 hours.

At Windtree Palace they had a combination car wash, gymnastics meet, and sun bathing.

At Herrington Manor they had the first two games of the Spring Break Olympics.  On the first event, the youngest competitor scored no points because he was distracted and on the second event he was disqualified for interference.

👉 In our “Maybe We Will Soon Be Normal” Department, it was announced by the Lords of Washington Road that they have set a tentative date for chasing small, round, white objects across lush green grass to celebrate the 50th birthday of our first born child.  Translated: the Augusta National hopes to open Masters Week on November 9.

👉 I am not sure if it is ironic, but it is certainly moving to be celebrating “Holy Week” in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.  In one sense, there’s nothing special about Holy Week.  It is just another sequence of eight days each spring.  We have no Scripture mandate to mark these days for particular observance.  But the events of the week, and it’s Easter Sunday climax, are the foundation of our Christian hope.  Celebrating Holy Week is not an obligation.  It is an opportunity to relive the most important week in the history of the world.

Tomorrow is Maundy Thursday.  The word Maundy comes from the Latin word maundatum, which means commandment. It was the word in the Latin Vulgate translation of the New Testament which recorded Jesus words: “A new command I give you: Love one another” (John 13:34).

According to John’s account, the intensity of the week begins with Jesus performing a ritual for His disciples that I’ve participated in only twice, and not in the last 50 years – feet washing.  Here’s the way John describes it:

“Now before the Feast of the Passover ... Jesus rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded ...

“So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, ‘Do you know what I have done to you? ... I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you ... If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them” (John 14:1, 4-5, 12, 15, 17).

We’ve talked about it before in this blog.  During these difficult times, there are people who are serving us at their own risk, and as we remember them, we also serve those with whom we are sheltered in place.  These acts of service are letting the love of God be dramatically seen.  “You should do as I have done to you.”  Keep praying.  Keep serving.  Keep loving.  We will get through this.

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