QUARANTINE BLOG # 415

May 19, 2021

U.S. deaths from COVID-19 last week fell to their lowest in nearly 14 months and the number of new cases continued to decline for a fifth week in a row.  Deaths for the week ending May 16 totaled the lowest weekly death toll since March 2020.  

About 37% of the country’s population has been fully vaccinated as of Sunday, and 47% has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the CDC.  New Hampshire leads the country with 85% of its residents receiving at least one dose, followed by Vermont at 65% and Massachusetts at 62%.  Georgia was in 47th place, but has dropped to 48th.  

👉  When Florida physician Thomas Newman died of COVID-19, he left his family a  collection of sports cards worth some $20 million, including a Babe Ruth card that could set a new world record – a 1933 Babe Ruth card that auctioneers believe could break the $5.2 million world record price that was set in January for any single sports card.  It is the only Mint 9 condition Babe Ruth card of its kind that is known to exist.  A near-perfect 1952 Mickey Mantle rookie card is expected to sell for about $1 million.  The cards will be offered at an online auction by Memory Lane from June 21-July 10.

Newman began collecting as a boy but his mom threw out his cards when he left for college.  He started again in the 1980s.  

👉  An oil painting by Pablo Picasso sold for $103.4 million at a Christie’s auction in New York.  The portrait of Picasso’s French lover Marie-Therese, “Woman Sitting Near a Window,” was the fifth work by the Spanish painter to have sold for more than $100 million.  Personal note: Any of my grandchildren, before they had reached the age of 10 could have done that painting.  If we could only have gotten someone to pay just $1 million for it.

👉  From the age of 5, Filipino graphic artist Percival Lugue has had a passion for collecting toys from fast-food restaurant chains.  The 50-year-old has about 20,000 toys packed from floor to ceiling in his home and holds a Guinness World Record from 2014, when his collection reached more than 10,000 items.  His dream now is to eventually put his collection on display for the public or even open a museum to “give others a chance to revisit their own childhood memories.”

👉  The world’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge opened last Thursday near the town of Arouca in northern Portugal.  The see-through metal grid pathway is 1693 feet long, and is held up by steel cables and two massive towers on each side.  It wobbles a little with every step.  Locals hope the attraction, which cost about $2.8 million and took around two years to build, will help revive the region, especially after the devastating COVID-19 pandemic.  

👉  In 2002 Richard Bland was an up-and-coming pro from Southampton, England, when he reached a final-day playoff in the Irish Open, but he didn’t win.  Bland didn’t win for nearly 20 years – a run of 477 starts.  There were 30 Top 10 finishes, but Bland’s career fit the profile of a journeyman’s: a deeply skillful player who could compete with golf’s best, but never could get himself over the top. 

This past weekend, at the Belfry in England, in tournament No. 478, Bland finally won, capturing the British Masters after sinking a clutch putt in a final-day playoff.  He became the oldest first-time winner in European Tour history.  Bland shot 68-69 over the first two days, and hovered atop the leaderboard.  That’s when he got a text message from an old friend who said, “One shot at a time, one hole at a time.”  He needed a 25-foot birdie putt on the 18th to reach a playoff with Italy’s Guido Migliozzi.  There, he won with a par putt on the first extra hole.

It reminds me of a great science fiction movie, Galaxy Quest, and the great tag line, “Never give up! Never surrender!”

👉  Today’s close, “3 Habits of Happy People” is by Debbie Holloway.

I stumbled across a list someone had put online, entitled “22 Habits of Happy People.” There is Scriptural wisdom to back up the catchy phrases. Here’s what I found for the first few.

1. Let go of grudges

The ideas of forgiveness and leaving vengeance up to God can be found in many places throughout the Old and New Testaments. Levitical Law states, “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord” (Leviticus 19:18).

Jesus speaks of the necessity of forgiving each other and letting go of grudges. “Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses” (Matthew 11:35).

2. Treat everyone with kindness

Jesus cautions, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you” (Matthew 7:12). Perhaps the best model for kindness would, of course, be God himself. Instead of allowing humanity to perish in sin, God pursued us throughout centuries, and offers salvation and reconciliation to all freely.

3. Regard your problems as challenges

According to Paul, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Truthfully, life is full of problems. And not all problems can be solved. But God didn’t make us fearful or incapable. He gave us a spirit of power and of sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). If we looked at our problems more like challenges, perhaps we would be more hopeful about the future.

Intersecting Faith and Life: Have you been holding grudges? Have you been less than kind to others? Have you let yourself become overwhelmed by your daily problems? Consider developing some “habits of happy people!”

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