QUARANTINE BLOG # 429

June 2, 2021

A Brazilian town has seen a 95% drop in Covid-19 deaths after almost all adults were vaccinated as part of an experiment.  Serrana, with 45,000 inhabitants, saw cases plunge after a mass vaccination.  The team said those who had not been vaccinated were also protected by the reduction in the virus’s circulation.  The findings suggest the pandemic can be controlled after 75% of people are fully dosed.  When 95% of adults were fully vaccinated, results showed that: deaths fell by 95%, hospitalizations fell by 86%, symptomatic cases fell by 80%.

👉  You’ve heard it said, and probably said it, “The only thing we learn from history is that we don’t learn from history.”  And while that has a good possibility of being true, here as some things you may not have learned from history.

In Ancient Greece, wearing skirts was manly.  In fact, the Ancient Greeks viewed trousers as effeminate and would mock any men who wore them.

In 1386, a pig was executed in Falaise, France, where a pig attacked a child’s face who went on to later die from the wounds.  The pig was arrested, kept in prison, and then sent to court where it stood trial for murder, was found guilty and then executed by hanging.

During World War I, the French built a “fake Paris.”  Complete with a replica Champs-Elysées, this fake Paris was built by the French towards the end of WWI.  It was built as a means of throwing off German bombers and fighter pilots flying over French skies.  It also even had a fake railway that lit up at certain points to provide the illusion from above of a train moving along the tracks.

Turkeys were once worshiped as gods.  The Mayan people believed turkeys were the vessels of the gods and honored them with worship.  They were even domesticated to have roles in religious rites.

👉  Some political thoughts from Shoe:

👉  We conclude our waterfalls visits today with a start in Vietnam.  

Cascading down three tiers and backed by a lush green landscape and fairy-tale-like pointy mountains, Ban Gioc Waterfall (which is known as Detain Waterfall on the Chinese side) is right on the border with China and ranks as the largest waterfall in Asia.  On the Chinese side, the drop is more than 230 feet, and the waterfall is some 650 feet wide.  The falls are fed by the Quay Son River, which divides the two countries.

The special reason why Angel Falls is one of the greatest waterfalls is that it is the world’s tallest uninterrupted waterfall.  The waterfall is 15 times higher than Niagara Falls which has a height of 170 feet.  Falling from a height of 3212 feet, it is named after American aviator Jimmy Angel, who was the first person to fly over the falls (Angel’s ashes were scattered over the falls on July 2, 1960).  In 2009 Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez announced – but later rescinded the plan – a to change the name to the original indigenous Pemon term, “Kerepakupai Vená,” meaning “waterfall of the deepest place.”

Jimmy Angel’s historic photograph of the falls.

Situated in a protected nature reserve in Romania, Bigar Cascade Falls is one of the most beautiful waterfalls in the world.  The reasons which make this waterfall unique are related to the way water spreads and falls – over the highest point of a fat, rounded stone, and is diverted into a sheet of countless small streams – and the fact that this natural marvel is located exactly on the 45th parallel north, at the halfway point between the Equator and the North Pole.

👉  A video for all of you cat lovers.

👉  In case you are hungry, there are two celebrations in which you may want to participate.

Today is National Rotisserie Day.  Rotisserie chickens have been available in stores and supermarkets since the 1930’s, and their popularity hasn’t waned in the slightest.  600 million of them have sold in the US, with 76 million of them sold in Costco outlets alone.  The practice of rotisserie cooking chickens goes back hundreds of years, with paintings showing them being done in large batches since at least the 1300’s. 

And today is also National Rocky Road Day which celebrates ice cream made of chocolate, marshmallows, and nuts.  There are varying accounts of the origin of this ice cream, as there often is with the creation of something new.  The most popular concerns William Dreyer in the late 1920s who used his wife’s sewing scissors to chop up marshmallows and walnuts and added them to chocolate ice cream. 

👉  Today’s close is from Adrian Rogers.

Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And…he proceeded further to seize Peter also…. So when he had arrested him, he put him in prison…but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands. Then the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and…follow me.” So…he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John…where many were gathered together praying. Now Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished (selected verses from Acts 12).

Peter was in prison and the church was praying. They had no other recourse. They couldn’t petition the government. They had no political influence, no money to bribe Herod. But they could pray. The world might have laughed, but friend, the devil didn’t laugh.

Someone wisely said, “The devil trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees.” They offered focused prayer to God, and God controls the universe.

Notice it says the church offered “constant prayer” on his behalf (Acts 12:5). They prayed not only with intensity but with specificity.

What did you pray for this morning? Many of our prayers are so vague (like “Lord, save the lost”), if God were to answer them, we wouldn’t know it. And if God didn’t answer them, we wouldn’t have to admit it.

Stop praying vague, general prayers. Get specific. When they prayed for Peter and the answer came, they knew it was an answer to prayer.

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