QUARANTINE BLOG # 280

January 4, 2021

Americans have been escaping to Mexico to avoid COVID-19 restrictions back home. Now, Mexico is seeing a surge in coronavirus cases. The influx of Americans can be attributed, in part, to the relatively relaxed entry requirements for tourists. While many countries require US citizens to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test or a period of quarantine upon arrival, Mexico does not ask for either.

American arrivals have been a boon to the Mexican tourism industry, but there is currently a surge in coronavirus across the country, with authorities recording new peaks in November and December. As of yesterday, Mexico has recorded more than 1.4 million COVID-19 cases and more than 126,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The country has the fourth-highest COVID-19 death toll in the world.

In response to the rising number of cases in Mexico, the US State Department has urged Americans to “reconsider” travel to Mexico due to high COVID-19 infection rates. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also advised people to “avoid all travel to Mexico” because of a “very high level of COVID-19.”

👉  According to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi – shown disrespecting the office of the President of the United States by ripping up President Trump’s State of the Union message – a new resolution, if passed, will make the 117th version of House of Representatives “the most inclusive in history.”

The U.S. House Committee on Rules will “honor all gender identities by changing pronouns and familial relationships in the House rules to be gender neutral.”

“In clause 8(c)(3) of rule XXIII, strike ‘father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, first cousin, nephew, niece, husband, wife, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in- law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, stepfather, stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother, stepsister, half brother, half sister, grandson, or granddaughter’ and insert ‘parent, child, sibling, parent’s sibling, first cousin, sibling’s child, spouse, parent-in-law, child-in-law, sibling-in-law, stepparent, stepchild, stepsibling, half-sibling, or grandchild’,” the resolution states.

These geniuses should be required watch the scene in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1990 movie Kindergarten Cop where a little boy settles the question of how to differentiate between genders.  But that seems to be too difficult an answer for our elected yummies up on carpet corridor.

👉  Not only do we have a sanity-gap, as evidenced by the piece above, we also have a generation gap as represented by the following:

👉  Towering 2,310 feet above the city of Rio de Janeiro , the Christ the Redeemer statue is the largest Art Deco-style sculpture on the planet. Perched on the summit of Mount Corcovado, the statue stands 98 feet tall (making it two-thirds the height of New York’s Statue of Liberty), and its outstretched arms reach to 92 feet horizontally.

The idea of designing a massive statue of Jesus Christ in Rio first came about way back in the 1850s, when a local priest came up with the idea of placing a Christian monument on top of Mount Corcovado. It wasn’t until after World War I when the Roman Catholic archdiocese in Rio and a group of locals started becoming concerned about the “lack of religious faith” in the Brazilian community, and it was hoped that by placing a massive statue of Jesus on top of the mountain would rebel against what they saw as an “increasing godlessness” in the country.

One of the many things that baffles anyone who sees the statue for the first time is, how did the statue get up there in the first place?

Because of the statue’s massive size, the statue was actually put together on top of Mount Corcovado, and all the necessary materials (as well as the workers) were transported up the mountain on a small cog-wheel train. Workers used long wooden poles to act as scaffolding during the construction phase, and they actually had to scale them in order to put all the materials in the right place – a task that was truly daunting in every sense of the word, yet symbolized the locals’ intense religious faith, above all else.

Corcovado Mountain and Christ the Redeemer as seen from Sugarloaf Mountain

👉  Today’s sermon from the Crawfordville Pulpit, preached January 3, 2021, is “A New Start.”

👉  Today’s closing piece, “You Are Loved,” is by Joyce Meyer.

God reminded me today of His unconditional love!

It is very important to begin each day knowing that you are loved! God loves you unconditionally, and His love is more valuable and important than anyone else’s. He doesn’t love us because we deserve it, but simply because He wants to.

As you receive God’s love freely, it will give you confidence and enable you to live life without fear. God’s perfect love casts out all fear and dread (see 1 John 4:18).

Perhaps you have known the pain of not being chosen. You were not picked for class president or asked to attend the party that everyone else was going to. When we are left out it hurts, but the good news for you today is that God has chosen. You! You are special to Him and His love for you will never end.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for loving me unconditionally. Thank you for choosing me. Help me love You with all of my heart.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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