Posted on 03/14/2020 6:56:51 AM PDT by Kaslin
"You know what people are missing as they hoard toilet paper and hand sanitizer? They are missing that our lives are gifts. We are blessed to ever be here in the first place. Everything we have in life is a blessing. Our families. Our homes. Our jobs. You may think you earned it all, but none of it would be without a loving God who created you and the world."
An Uber driver told me this. On one of my last Uber rides for a while, I suspect. He is Muslim and seemed to have some real peace about him as he drove me to Catholic Mass, the same day that Mass cancellations became a thing here in the United States. I knew it was happening in Rome, but, gosh, it sure did seem to happen here quick.
I read one testimony from a Christian American woman in Wuhan, who reflected on her time in quarantine at the 48-day mark. She, her family and her neighbors have experienced community like never before. They know each other better, make room for each other with more sensitivity.
I also keep thinking about a man named Patrick who gave me a hug outside Saint Patrick's Cathedral not too long ago. I can't help but wonder what is happening to Patrick today. He had talked to me about maybe going to see folks at Catholic Charities, but he told me how he prefers sleeping on the street rather than a homeless shelter. He told me about the beautiful sleeping bag someone had given him as a gift -- "it really keeps you warm!" -- that was stolen at one of the shelters. It's colder but generally safer on the streets, he's concluded. Every time I hear people talk about staying home and self-quarantining, I think of Patrick. How does Patrick take care of himself in these circumstances? Now that many of our lives are being upended, might we care to think a bit more about the likes of Patrick? Might we pray and find out what we might do to help support services that make sure people like Patrick aren't overlooked in a health crisis?
People like Patrick make a real impression on me because, despite their challenges and the cold brutal reality of their lives, they have a spirit of gratitude and goodness about them. Patrick seems to have hope. I obviously don't know his whole story and all its complications, but there seems a simplicity about him, of the kind we could all afford to rediscover.
Another conversation I had as everything was starting to shut down was with an 80-year-old man named Dennis. He told me about his adult son, Michael, who had a good job but eventually lost it because of Crohn's disease. Dennis told me that while he is applying for government assistance, there's nothing yet. But government assistance isn't what Dennis wants for his son; Dennis wants him to know he is loved. "I'm not going to get a job at my age and my skills anywhere," he says. And so, he drives for Uber. "And I can't stop," he tells me. "I don't know what I'm going to do if everything really shuts down."
There are people truly struggling on a good day, financially, trying to fulfill their obligations and have some semblance of a healthy life with healthy relationships. Will this time of coronavirus help us see each other and help each other? This is a time that should change us. Our lives may not be what we thought they were. Our sense of security may have been completely unfounded. If we are Christians, do we really trust in God alone, or have those just been words we have occasionally said in rote prayer?
For how much of our lives have we heard the saying "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger"? That seems crass at a time with such a dangerous virus spreading and taking lives. But during this religious season of Lent, at the time of the change in the seasons, too, this virus that is changing the way we live for months can also give us new life.
A peaceful Muslim? More than likely wants to cut you to pieces. Spit.
Every minute, every second of life, and more importantly, time spent with the ones you love, is a blessing from God.
And that blessing can end at any time for any of us.
Why don't you have enough stuff for a month? Except for the basic....milk bread eggs
SB: What did you do in school today?"My 6th grader: "Oh, they gave us a lecture about the coronavirus."
SB: "Anything else?"
My 6th grader: "Well, at recess we played a new game that we invented. It's called 'Corona Tag.'"
SB: "What?"
My 6th grader: "Yes. What you do is this. One person has the coronavirus, and she chases everybody else. If she tags you, you have it, and then you chase everybody."
And we go on to a much better blessing. Which is what confuses me about the sheer terror of losing their earthly life on a board full of Christians.
taking precautions of course. But taking so much food and other things that other people can’t have it? Hoarding because you are so desperately afraid of losing your life on this planet?
This is a journey and many are making it the destination
Because duct tape isn’t very absorbent?
Think of what happens to your arm hair when you pull off a band-aid.
Would be nice if hoarders returned their excess to the store, keep only 6 months worth.
However, two friends from France, living here, are absolutely hysterical! They are convinced that the Black Death is upon us! And they're convinced that President Trump is personally spraying the virus on all of us! Especially them!
A little soothing calmed them down a bit, but quickly the panic returned!
And we go on to a much better blessing. Which is what confuses me about the sheer terror of losing their earthly life on a board full of Christians. taking precautions of course.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
As my brother said, on Thursday, as it appeared from all the stories hitting the news that the country was ‘shutting down’ ..... this is in God’s hands & HE is in control - I will not worry over something where I have no control.
Of course, basic precautions are being taken, but bottom line, for those of us who have faith/believe in Jesus Christ, Heaven is our Home and I have no fear of going there. I have spent a lot of time with several people in the process of dying & two of those I’ve been with when they actually died. One person (in the process) was terrified .... she had lost her faith. “I want to die, I want to die, but I’m afraid!” was what she said .... I did what I could for her & even got my pastor to come talk to her. Ultimately, I have reason to believe that God was with her & she acknowledged Him when she did in fact, die. The other two were people of faith and were accepting, calm, and looking forward to being “forever in the presence of God’s love” as one of them said to me near the end.
It’s a dark, bleak “nothing” when you have no faith & that does terrify people. What I have found to often be the case, people call themselves Christians after being raised that way, they warm a church pew for years/decades (as did the lady who was afraid); however, they have not developed a personal relationship with God ... I believe this explains some of the fear you see in “Christians” ... just a thought/guess on my part.
This. ^
The Law - Bastiat
Life Is a Gift from God
We hold from God the gift which includes all others. This gift is life — physical, intellectual, and moral life.
But life cannot maintain itself alone. The Creator of life has entrusted us with the responsibility of preserving, developing, and perfecting it. In order that we may accomplish this, He has provided us with a collection of marvelous faculties. And He has put us in the midst of a variety of natural resources. By the application of our faculties to these natural resources we convert them into products, and use them. This process is necessary in order that life may run its appointed course.
Life, faculties, production — in other words, individuality, liberty, property — this is man. And in spite of the cunning of artful political leaders, these three gifts from God precede all human legislation, and are superior to it. Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place.
http://bastiat.org/en/the_law.html
What happens when The Law turns against you and WHO is responsible for it? It’s in the link. It has happened many times. Witness history.
No justice, no republic.
Not many on this planet have experienced what we have experienced. The lack of similar Bill of Rights in other countries is problematic.
From Hammurabi Code through Halakhah, Moses, Sharia, Napoleonic code, Magna Carta, Constitution and Bill of Rights of The United States of America, there has never been a justice system designed to give individuals maximum freedom while dealing with depths of wickedness unseen. Are we Past Peak Civilization?
OUTSTANDING effort FF. Thanks.
Justice systems BEST PRACTICES BUMP!
Fatwas for them.
I don’t think it’s so much the illness we want to avoid or even death. It’s the healthcare meltdown we need to avoid. Remember, in the ER, “blue” trumps “chest pain”. You won’t get treated for your MI if the ER is swamped with blue people.
Saucer eyed feline
Methinks people are buying tp to sell online
Kathryn Lopez- she’s one of the dopes who helped turn National Review into a worthless rag.
And having learned nothing from that experience she’s still cranking out the same clueless drivel.
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