August 2, 2021
Well, here we go again. Saturday, Florida reported 21,683 new cases of COVID-19, the state’s highest one-day total since the start of the pandemic. The state has become the new national epicenter for the virus, accounting for around a fifth of all new cases in the U.S. as the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus continues to spread.
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is not helping! He has resisted mandatory mask mandates and vaccine requirements, and along with the state Legislature, has limited local officials’ ability to impose restrictions meant to stop the spread of COVID-19. DeSantis on Friday barred school districts from requiring students to wear masks when classes resume next month.
👉 There are almost as many reasons for vaccine hesitancy and refusal as there are unvaccinated Americans. But this problem, not the variant, lies at the root of rising infection rates. After an all too brief respite, the United States is again at a crossroads in the pandemic. The number of infections has ticked up – slowly at first, then swiftly – to 51,000 cases per day, on average, more than four times the rate a month ago. The country may again see overflowing hospitals, exhausted health care workers and thousands of needless deaths.
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The waiting area of a pop-up vaccination site at St. John the Divine Cathedral in New York setting empty. |
The more contagious Delta variant may be getting the blame, but fueling its rise is an older, more familiar foe: vaccine hesitancy and refusal, long pervasive in the United States. Were a wider swath of the population vaccinated, there would be no resurgence – of the Delta variant, or Alpha variant, or any other version of the coronavirus.
On our trip to Pittsburgh last week, we stopped at a rest area and noticed a COVID-19 test site had been set up. I asked one of the workers, “How many tests have you given today?” He replied, “None.” I continued, “How many tests did you give yesterday?” Same answer.
The refusers are crying, “It’s my freedom not to get the vaccine! You are infringing on my rights to force me to get it!” They forget that their freedoms stops at the end of my nose. You don’t have the freedom to holler “Fire!” in a crowded theater. You don’t have the freedom to drive drunk. Why should you think you have the freedom to endanger the health of all of us by your selfishness?
👉 The folks out on the Left Coast are strange. At the beginning of next year, California will begin enforcing an animal welfare proposition approved overwhelmingly by voters in 2018 that requires more space for breeding pigs, egg-laying chickens and veal calves. National veal and egg producers are optimistic they can meet the new standards, but only 4% of hog operations now comply with the new rules. Unless the courts intervene or the state temporarily allows non-compliant meat to be sold in the state, California will lose almost all of its pork supply, and pork producers will face higher costs to regain a key market.
Thanks to a reworked menu and long hours, Jeannie Kim managed to keep her San Francisco restaurant alive during the coronavirus pandemic. That makes it all the more frustrating that she fears her breakfast-focused diner could be ruined within months by new rules that could make one of her top menu items – bacon – hard to get in California. “Our number one seller is bacon, eggs and hash browns,” she said.
👉 Do you open the box, build the model and play with it, or do you put it sealed on a shelf and hope some day it will be worth a lot of money, perhaps enough to pay college tuition for your children or grandchildren? That is a dilemma facing Lego collectors and builders. And here’s a good “for instance.” When Lego released its version of the Star Wars Millennium Falcon in 2007, it was the biggest set the Danish toy maker had ever produced. Part of the Ultimate Collector’s Series, it consisted of 5,195 pieces and cost $475.00 Two years later, the set was discontinued.
In 2014, an unopened set sold at auction for $15,000, making it the world’s most expensive Lego set. And you are thinking, man if I had one of those! Well, Lego issued an updated version of the spaceship in 2017. Good news for Star Wars fans desperate to build the ultimate Millennium Falcon; not so good for those who had squirreled away their 2007 set unopened for a rainy day. Shortly after the 2017 set came out, the 2007 model was being offered on eBay for $3470.00. Quite a drop from that auction 3 years earlier. QBs advice? Open ‘em, build ‘em, play with ‘em. Stop by the Lego Room at Woodland Drive and see that we follow our advice.
👉 One of the great movies of almost 30 years ago – has it been that long? – is 1992s A League of Their Own. And one of the great all-time movie quotes is from that film.
– Quote: “There's no crying in baseball!”
– Character: Jimmy Dugan
– Actor: Tom Hanks
Coach Dugan was obviously not a Pittsburgh Pirates fan, especially not after watching his team outscored 26-3 for three games.
👉 The Quarantine Blog Index through July 31, 2021 is now online.
👉 Today’s sermon, “Is It All Hopeless?” is from the Macedonia UMC Pulpit. The text is Ecclesiastes 1:1-18 and Matthew 5:1-12.
👉 Today’s close is by Sharon Hinch.
“I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” (Psalm 27:13).
One of the reasons I’m most excited for heaven, is that I’ll get to see Jesus face to face. Free of my sinful nature and the distortions of this fallen world, I’ll be able to gaze at His goodness and appreciate it fully.
Yet I can also see my Saviors goodness in this life, if I open my eyes to what He’s doing.
This week, I was discouraged by family relationships that weren’t as warm and loving as I wished. For a few days, I brooded, focusing obsessively on the misunderstandings and conflicts. Then I looked around at other families who seemed to have all the closeness I longed for, and felt like a failure by comparison.
Finally, I began to look for Jesus’ love and guidance – His goodness – “in the land of the living.” My dilemma is that I define “goodness” as annihilation of my problems.
We all pray for God to change the “not good” circumstances in our lives. For some it’s a lingering illness, for some its financial hardship, for others it’s loneliness, loss or, in my case, strained relationships.
When Jesus dramatically intervenes, we have no trouble seeing His goodness. But sometimes illness lingers, unfair financial setbacks weigh us, or the empty space at the table remains empty. We resign ourselves that we won’t see God’s goodness over that situation until heaven.
Jesus has invited me to look more closely. He taught me to celebrate small opportunities for communication, to learn deeper dependence on Him, and to be grateful for His unconditional love. We can see His goodness appearing, even in the troubled land of our daily life.
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