QUARANTINE BLOG # 38

May 7, 2020

It was only been a matter of time.  And you knew it was coming.  “It” is profit being made from the coronavirus.  I bring this one to your attention because of my attachment to the first, and the attachment of all of us – I’m guessing I’m right – to the second.

You can now buy coronavirus face masks of your favorite sports team.  Pirates masks are 3 for $25, and are available in June.  Steelers masks are available now.  And no, I am not ordering either style.

And a coronavirus face mask of your favorite Walt Disney character or movie.  Select from Star Wars, Disney princesses, Monsters Inc., and Toy Story.  The list goes on and on.  The Mouse hasn’t missed a beat.

But I will withdraw my revulsion (partially) of this crass, money making scheme, if it will get people to wear masks when they are out in public.  I went into a grocery store last week that had signs prominently displayed: “Please Wear Face Masks In The Store.”  And not even all of the employees had on masks.  Come on, people!  If you don’t want to save your own life, do all you can to protect me and mine!

My apologies to fans of Vince McMahon’s empire for almost leaving them out.  You can select from 20 different face masks, including the WWE Championship face mask, the Nature Boy Ric Flair mask (Wooooooo!), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spZOgdhtaMA and the nWo mask.

👉 In other news, some people are just weird.  Or as one of my children often says, “What were they thinking?”  Answer, they probably weren’t.  Specifically for this piece, the naming of a child.

Elon Musk and his girlfriend Grimes (her real name is Claire Boucher) welcomed a baby boy – X Æ A-12 Musk – into their lives on Monday.

Grimes tweeted the meaning of the name: “•X, the unknown variable •Æ, my elven spelling of Ai (love &/or Artificial intelligence) •A-12 = precursor to SR-17 (our favorite aircraft). No weapons, no defenses, just speed. Great in battle, but non-violent + (A=Archangel, my favorite song) (metal rat).”  From someone who would rather be Grimes than Claire, it makes some sense.

👉 On this day in 1945, On May 7, 1945, the German High Command, in the person of General Alfred Jodl, signed the unconditional surrender of all German forces, East and West. At first, General Jodl hoped to limit the terms of German surrender to only those forces still fighting the Western Allies, but General Dwight Eisenhower demanded complete surrender of all German forces. If this demand was not met, Eisenhower was prepared to seal off the Western front, preventing Germans from fleeing to the West in order to surrender, thereby leaving them in the hands of the enveloping Soviet forces. Jodl signed.

👉 Trying to help out in these stay-at-home times, USAToday yesterday offered 10 TV shows to watch as a means of escape. https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2020/03/12/coronavirus-covid-19-happy-tv-shows-to-watch-quarantine/5030749002/ I give thumbs up to three of them: “The Great British Baking Show,” “The Carol Burnett Show,” and “Fixer Upper.” If they had asked me, I would have included viewer’s choice of any of the Star Trek series. And the paper also gave a list of 100 things to do while you are sheltering in place (when you’re not watching TV, I guess). https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2020/03/16/coronavirus-quarantine-100-things-do-while-trapped-inside/5054632002/ Number 2 was “start a blog.”

👉 Linda Birchall, pastor of St. Mark UMC in Augusta, sends a daily devotion to her flock.  I am turning the keyboard over to her for the devotion from last Friday.  And she took the photo of Grand Teton National Park.

“Blessed are those who trust in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD.  They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream.  It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit” (Jeremiah 17:7-8 NRSV).

One day while I was in seminary at Candler, some folks were setting up a display.  Turns out, they were from A Christian Ministry in the National Parks (ACMNP) and were seeking seminary students to work in parks that coming summer.  Well, I had always wished that I had done that while I was in college, and now here was my chance.  So I jumped on it and applied.

I was accepted and got my first choice: Grand Teton in Wyoming.  So, off I went, the back of my car packed for a summer in the Tetons.  I knew we would not have wifi readily available, and these were the days before Smart Phones.  So I included many books in my packing, as well as my Bible, devotionals, and some favorite foods.

When serving as a chaplain in the national parks, you actually have a “day job” and do the chaplaincy work on Sundays and in meetings with other members of your team during the week to plan worship.  My day job was in the Colter Bay Gift Shop, where we sold all of the souvenirs you could ever want.  What I didn’t realize was how brutal it would be to me because of all the standing.  As an older, out-of-shape, couch potato student, I wasn’t prepared for the rigors.  I felt like I was entering my own season of drought.

I prayed rigorously one evening that God would show me how to flourish, how to stay strong.  The next morning, someone reminded me that I likely needed more potassium than usual and suggested Gatorade.  So I grabbed one, drank it, and literally, an hour later felt better.  Every morning after that, I said my prayers, drank a small Gatorade, and carried on.  The pain never completely went away, but it became bearable.  I did not succumb to the anxiety.  Instead, I continued to trust God and then I was able to recognize that God had sent me that messenger at just the right time.

Heat, drought, or anxiety come to all of us, in one form or another, at one time or another.  They may appear in terms of relationship woes, job stress, or a pandemic.  But if our roots are firmly anchored in faith, we will continue to pray and to look for God’s messengers in whatever form they take.  Be strong, friends, and trust in the Lord.

Caring God, guide us always to lean on you, to put our whole trust in you, that we may flourish in our seasons of drought.  Help us to rely on your comforting presence always.  Amen.

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