“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” (George Santayana). Yesterday, the Tampa Bay Times published a front-page article: “Road to a million; a case study: Early optimism, indecision, then fatigue; now a scary spike.” Here are the highlights.
January 20th – it was announced that there was a first verified case of the coronavirus in the United States.
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As we enter the Season of Advent, it strikes me that “Hope” and “waiting” are even more a part of our lives in these times. In the dark hours before dawn, I muse about waiting and hope in the season of Advent, I was pondering what is higher on my list – waiting for Christmas or waiting for a coronavirus vaccine, herd immunity and the return to normalcy. If I am honest, it is the latter. It feels like we are living in the time of Noah. We are not just waiting for the flood waters of illness to reside, but we are optimistically waiting now that the vaccines are on the horizon.
But while I am optimistic, am I hopeful? I know I am waiting, but am I hopeful? Are you?
Earlier today I posted “Choosing Hope“. From time to time folks post comments – and I do read them all but have learned long ago there is not time to respond to the comments on a regular basis. Today someone posted a comment that I thought was such an awesome message… “you know what,” I thought to myself, “I am going to make a post of it.” So from my good friend, Jim Rossman:
A liminal 9 months for sure! But, we live in hope. My prediction is that we will limp into a new normal, dragging many deniers with us, exactly on May 1, 2021. (I don’t have to be right — just confident.)
Between now and then, I will use whatever platform is available to me, as we count down the days and weeks to that benchmark, to encourage:
I can’t imagine just hunkering down in despair and taking a beating for 5 more months. Time to begin the countdown and the ground building for a better world post May 1.
[Wow, now that is a clarion call to all people of faith!]
Liminality is one of those “$20 words” having to do with being in being an intermediate state, phase, or condition – in other words, betwixt-and-between. The year 2020 is certainly a liminal year living between the pandemic’s start and the all too uncertain end. And such times are replete with stories. There are stories that affect us all; there are one that are personal – but there are always stories.
With winter’s approach and these hard economic times, there will soon be a story in the paper about a family huddled around the gas kitchen stove on a winter’s eve because the electricity bill is unpaid, and power is cut off. Somewhere there is a family huddled in the ER waiting room; their oldest child in an automobile accident, the surgeons coming to say, “We’re doing all we can.” Maybe it’s a loved one in the covid ICU. These are the moments you wish the world would end, at least the world as you now know it.
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I am grateful for a day in which we, as a people, pause to give thanks. And who do we have to thank for this holiday? Your answer is likely “The Pilgrims.” You would not be wrong, but then not completely correct, either. Certainly, Thanksgiving and the religious response of giving thanks to God is as old as time. When one considers enduring cultures, one always finds men and women working out their relationship to God. There is almost always a fourfold purpose to our acts of worship: adoration, petition, atonement, thanksgiving. Such worship is part and parcel of life. And yet, there is still a very human need to specially celebrate and offer thanksgiving on key occasions and anniversaries. Since medieval times, we have very detailed records of celebrations marking the end of an epidemic, liberation from sure and certain doom, the signing of a peace treaty, and more. Continue reading
The readings for today are ominous and foreboding to say the least. It is the time in the liturgical cycle when such are the nature of the readings. For women and men of a certain age, we think about our lives, our faith, and our bucket lists. I remember about 4 or 5 years ago I was watching Coach Lou Holtz talk about his bucket list because he was so excited having recently accomplished #2 on his list – taking a ride on a nuclear submarine. Check – been there, done that.
Lots of our bucket list are lists of want we want to do, see or enjoy.
“In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth and the earth was without form or shape, with darkness over the abyss and a mighty wind sweeping over the waters” (Genesis 1:1-2)
What seems familiar is just the start of an amazing plan or ordering God’s vision for us.
The opening verses of Genesis do far more than describe God’s creative actions. It it a masterpiece of writing that leads us to know God’s loving intention to form a holy place where He and all creation dwell in Rest, a continuing Rest that does not end.
Did you recognize the name? On this date in history in 1971, a hijacker who became popularly known as “D.B. Cooper” parachuted from a Northwest Orient Airlines 727 over the Pacific Northwest after receiving $200,000 in ransom ($1.3 million in 2020 dollars). He parachuted from the plane between Portland and Seattle to an uncertain fate. Despite an extensive manhunt and protracted FBI investigation, “D.B. Cooper” has never been located or identified. It remains the only unsolved case of air piracy in commercial aviation history.
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Today is the Memorial of Saint Andrew Dung-Lac, Priest, and Companions, Martyrs.
In Jesus’ day there was one thing that dominated the skyline of Jerusalem – the Temple – easily seen from across the way on the Mount of Olives, hovering over the Old City, and visible from every balcony in the upper city. It wasn’t the original Temple, but the second temple completed by King Herod the Great who make it a “wonder of the world.” While some people were speaking about how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings (Luke 21:5).
And so, there are the disciples taking in the view – the Temple and all its glory. They looked at the Temple and saw one thing. Jesus looked at the Temple and saw another.
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