QUARANTINE BLOG # 532

September 13, 2021

As Americans contemplate the prospect of a second winter trapped in the grip of Covid-19, remember that it didn’t need to be this way.  Vaccines were developed in record time, and have proved to be both incredibly safe and stunningly effective.  Nearly two-thirds of eligible Americans have accepted these facts and done their part by getting fully vaccinated.

Yet tens of millions more have not, allowing the more contagious Delta variant to sweep across the country, where it is now killing more than 1,500 people in the United States daily.  Right now, the list of the very sick and the dead is made up almost entirely of the unvaccinated.  But as long as the virus continues to spread widely, it can and will evolve in ways that put everyone at risk.

👉   Here are few “black outs.”

👉  Women in Afghanistan will be allowed to study in universities as the country seeks to rebuild after decades of war but gender-segregation and Islamic dress code will be mandatory, the Taliban’s new Higher Education minister said on Sunday.  The minister, Abdul Baqi Haqqani, said the new Taliban government would “start building the country on what exists today” and did not want to turn the clock back 20 years to when the movement was last in power.  He said female students would be taught by women wherever possible and classrooms would remain separated, in accordance with the movement’s interpretation of Islamic sharia law.

👉  Some “Good Words.”

👉  Still some vacation spots to go, and this time, you and 40 million of your closest friends have been shopping in the colossal Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, built on the site of the former Metropolitan Stadium.  Well, not all 40 million at once, but that’s the average yearly count.  If 100 acres of shopping with more than 530 stores, an indoor theme park, and an aquarium haven’t been enough for you, there is a marker where home plate was, and 520 feet away, fastened on the wall is a seat from the stadium – in its exact spot – where Minnesota Twins great Harmon Killebrew once hit a 520 foot home run.

The chair is that red thing on the wall.

Well, you are shopped out – and many years ago I spent 5 hours there just walking around, went in two stores and had lunch – so you decide to drive 100 miles south to Austin, Minnesota and the Spam Museum.

You read that correctly.  In 1991 the Hormel Foods company built a memorial to their processed canned pork product which gained popularity worldwide after its use during World War II, and is now sold in 41 countries on six continents.

In 2001, Hormel moved the museum to a 16,500-square foot space that included a theater, historical displays, family activities and games.  The lobby of the museum featured a wall of Spam with more than 3,300 Spam cans.  Always looking to better the experience of the visitor, in 2016 the Spam Museum relocated to a 14,000-square foot space that features a World War II section, recipes, and a gift shop with Spam related items.  Volunteer guides – known as Spambassadors – offer visitors small bits of Spam on a toothpick or pretzel stick, commonly known as Spamples.

Canstruments at the Spam Museum.

👉  Some Sunday Funnies before we close:

👉  Today’s close, “Could You Please Be More Specific?” is from The Story by Zondervan.

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.” . . . So Abram went (Genesis 12:1, 4).

One cup of flour, 3.9 quarts of oil every 7,500 miles, 20 minutes of exercise a day. We like specific instructions in our daily life.

We also have some experience planning trips. We’ll arrive at point A by a certain time, travel 250 miles the next day, get to point B, and then start driving again at 6:30 a.m.

Maybe we need the details because we are finite human beings. Maybe we like those specifics because of the illusion of control they give us. Clearly, our infinite God plans trips a little differently.

“Go from your country . . .” The from is implied in the go, so that instruction is not terribly helpful. “To” – Okay, this is what we need. I’ll program it into the GPS – “the land I will show you.” My GPS doesn’t like that destination! I don’t like that destination!

What a picture – what a definition – of faith. “Go where I will show you,” God essentially instructs. Notice the implicit promise: his showing you will mean his presence with you. And he wants to go with you because he loves you.

Go! Is not as daunting when you’re journeying with God.

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