QUARANTINE BLOG # 242

November 27, 2020

As promised earlier, here is the story of the most successful pirate of all time.  She – yes, she – sailed the South China Seas in the early 19th century.  If you merge all ships and vessels of all the pirate captains about whom we’ve talked, then gather all pirates and sailors they had under their commands, you couldn’t have nearly enough power to beat mighty fleet of female captain, Cheng I Sao.

Cheng I Sao, a prostitute, married a Chinese pirate captain on the condition that she would share equally in his power and would be given the opportunity to help him secure more wealth. For six years, they grew their piracy business, and when he died, Cheng I Sao took the reins.

Cheng I Sao had her own system of pirate law, and her most famous laws applied to the taking of female prisoners. Ugly women were returned to shore, free of charge. Attractive captives were auctioned off to the crew, unless a pirate personally purchased the captive, in which case they were considered married. If that pirate cheated on his new bride, Cheng I Sao had him killed.

In the height of her power, she controlled more than 1,500 ships and had manpower of 80,000 sailors which was larger than almost any navy at the time. She was virtually unchallenged throughout the coast of the South China Sea.  Finally, in 1810, the Chinese government offered her universal amnesty in exchange for peace.

The pirate queen negotiated a killer deal. Fewer than 400 of her men received any punishment, and a mere 126 were executed. The remaining pirates got to keep their booty and were offered military jobs.

As for Cheng I Sao, she retired with her loot and her new husband, her former right-hand man, Chang Pao, and opened a gambling house. She died peacefully in 1844, a 69-year-old grandmother.

👉  November is Native American Heritage Month, established to honor and recognize Native Americans and to celebrate both their cultural heritage and integral importance to our nation. Today is Native American Heritage Day.  President George W. Bush signed into law legislation on October 8, 2008, after it passed both houses of Congress unanimously.  The bill, however, was only formally supported by 184 out of 567 federally recognized tribes, and some Native American leaders protest the day of recognition being on the major shopping day “Black Friday.”

👉  With all of the furor over recounts, you may have missed another vote.  The residents of Key West approved three proposals that would effectively ban large cruise ships from Key West.  The new laws limit persons disembarking from cruise ships to 1,500 per day, prohibits cruise ships with a capacity of 1,300 or more persons from even docking, and prioritizes cruise lines with the best environmental and health records – if any fit the new, rigid standards.  Quick research reveals that of the major cruise lines, only the Pacific Princess, with a capacity of 670 passengers, can sail into Key West.  I guess that will limit souvenir sales and tours to places where Ernest Hemingway drank.

Pacific Princess sailing past Grand Princess

👉  Here is one from our “Uh, Let’s Think This Through Department.” Mason Kinley is attending school in-person this year for the first time.  His mother Brittany filled out the forms for school photos.  There was an option for parents to have their child’s name printed on the pictures, but  Brittany wasn’t interested.  The form wouldn’t let her leave that section of the form blank, so she wrote: I DON’T WANT THIS.  The result?  They received 30 copies of Mason’s adorable school photo with the words “I DON’T WANT THIS” printed at the bottom of each one, in all caps.

👉  I have always liked impressionists – people with the talent to mimic other people’s voices.  Rich Little is tops.  But while doing some old fashioned goofing off one recent morning I stumbled on some YouTube collection of people who had tried out for one of those Somebody’s Got Talent TV Shows.  I edited out this 1 minute 46 second clip of Greg Morton doing Star Wars.  Enjoy!

👉  WHAT THEY SEE

Doug Nichols Bothel was a missionary serving with Operation Mobilization in India.  He contracted tuberculosis which forced him into a sanitarium for several months.  He did not yet speak the language, but he tried to give Christian literature written in their language to the patients, doctors, and nurses.  Everyone politely refused.

The first few nights Doug woke around 2:00 a.m. coughing.  During one of those morning coughing spells, he noticed one of the older and sicker patients across the aisle trying to get out of bed.  The old man sat up on the edge of the bed and tried to stand, but in weakness fell back into bed, exhausted, and crying softly.

The next morning it was apparent what the man had been trying to do.  He had been trying to get up and walk to the bathroom.  The stench in the ward was awful.

Other patients yelled apparent insults at the man.  Angry nurses moved him roughly from side to side as they cleaned up the mess.  One nurse even slapped him.  The old man curled into a ball and wept. 

The next night Doug again woke up coughing.  He noticed the same old man across the aisle sit up and again try to stand.  Like the night before, he fell back whimpering. Doug did not want to awaken in the morning to the aroma of soiled sheets, so he got out of bed and went over to the old man, smiled, put his arms under the man, and carried him to the facilities – which were nothing more than a hole in the floor.

He stood behind the man with his arms under the old fellow’s armpits as he took care of himself.  After he finished, he picked him up, and carried him back to his bed.  Before the old man sank into his bed, he kissed Doug on the cheek, smiled, and said something the missionary couldn’t understand.

The next morning another patient woke the missionary and handed him a steaming cup of tea.  He motioned with his hands that he wanted a tract.

As the sun rose, other patients approached and indicated they also wanted the booklets Doug had tried to distribute before.  Throughout the day nurses, interns, and doctors asked for literature.

Weeks later an evangelist who spoke the language visited the sanitarium and discovered that several inmates and workers had put their trust in Christ as Savior as a result of reading the little booklets.  Those people were not reached by the ability to speak their language, or a persuasive talk.  Doug simply took a trip to the bathroom.

Telling other people about Jesus is not all that hard.  It just takes living like Christ in front of them.

-30-