The Great American Lent 2020
“Everything is gone,” the old woman leaning on the grocery
cart said to me. I searched her
weathered face for a shred of something I could comprehend. She was walking out of the grocery store with,
I presume, her adult son as I was walking in.
The definitive tone of her statement made me re-consider putting my own
cart back in the corral, popping the quarter out and going home to weep. But then I remembered that old people are
tricky and that I do not place my full trust in the word of man, so to speak.
Yes, the bread was wiped out. But I’ve got flour and a bread machine at
home. Yes the cookies were somewhat
depleted, as sure as the macaroni and cheese and soup and canned goods. BUT, and I think this is a very telling “but,”
there were full GALLONS of milk both 2% and whole, tons of eggs, yogurt, and
fruits and vegetables all readily available.
I grabbed a beautiful slab of salmon because all the red meat was pretty
much gone. Do you see how the things
people had chosen, were the very things that were not the healthiest foods to
eat anyways? (according to the
Mediterranean diet, et. al.) The paper
goods were gone but I am vaguely aware that when we buy stuff every week, it “magically”
appears on the shelf the next day for the guy behind us to purchase. That is because we live in America. And also because of living in America,
we have the toilet paper shortage.
Permit my explanation. (long and drawn-out, as usual)
I work in a hospital.
I do not in any way make light of the current health event we are going
through. While I do not have direct patient
contact, I do go into the building a few times a day to run around with mail,
paperwork, and the like. Interestingly, a
few years ago I found out that the Flu Shot MAKES ME SICK. So I had to stop getting it. I’ve had educated adults look me in the face
and say, “Well, you’re just getting a lesser version of the flu if you get sick
from the shot, so you should still get it.”
Really? I should still put toxins
in my body that have the wrong effect on me, and They don’t even match the
strain accurately every year due to their faulty crystal balls, and I should
STILL get the shot? (Derisive profanity
removed from text here by my Guardian Angel so I won’t spend additional time in
Purgatory).
The New York State Dept. of Health or the Center for Disease
Control has mandated that I, and other non-flu-shot-getters who work in
hospitals, wear the mask during flu season.
So I do. And you know what? I haven’t had the flu since then. Make of that what you will.
Consequently, being of relatively sound mind and body, and
washing my hands well and often (although not as long as the Happy Birthday
song that They suggest) I am planning to ward off the virus. And this Quarantine is kind of like my dating
life. When everyone else is out with
their families at sporting events, or going to dinner and dancing, I am home with
the dogs. It has been that way for
years. Somehow I have survived. And yet the rest of America, having to live
like this for a few weeks is in an uproar.
That is because in America, we have a very misplaced sense of
entitlement. I will itemize my
observations:
Ø
We think that because we are a nation that has
the ability to be free, we can use that freedom any time when and how we
choose. Limitations on our freedom are
noxious to us, even when they have our best interest in mind.
Ø
We don’t like any Official telling us to stay
home for our own good – and we are not necessarily putting the needs of others
first. It smacks of monarchy and we gave
that system the heave-ho before crossing the Pond to come here.
Ø
We do not necessarily have a grasp on the
difference between “enough” and “over-kill.”
The cashier at Walmart last week thanked me for buying only one
package of 12 rolls of toilet paper. I
chuckle. It’s not like that was virtue
on my part …. There were only one or two packages LEFT (the brand and quality
which my elderly friend Dot referred to as “the same as sandpaper”) and other
women were shopping with beefy-looking men that I did not want to arm wrestle
for another package. Even the paper towels were wiped-out except for a few
rolls of Great Value – let the marketing department re-consider the quality of
their product because of this.
Ø
We are not prepared for catastrophe or natural
disaster as individuals, despite the number of pamphlets various Offices put
out to tell us what to have on hand “just in case,” because we don’t THINK that
it could happen to us. We are America,
after all. We only “accept” pockets of
natural disasters as possible, and we re-build our houses next to the same
levies that broke ten years ago.
Ø
Combine the concept that we don’t think the
rules apply to ALL of us with the idea that we LIKE our sporting events,
shopping, and dinners out; there are more than a few people that need to be
told by the rest of the herd: STAY
HOME. THIS MEANS YOU.
Ø
The Media has become the epitomized example of “The
Boy Who Cried Wolf.” They have inflated
so many other stories beyond reason, that we don’t know if they are telling the
whole truth now or not. Some people are
ignoring them (and going out without limitations into public places). Some people are taking them with a grain of
salt. (me, sometimes) Some people are being overwhelmed by them and
are scared out of their brains. (The
elderly have typically been prone to anxiety driven from Media hype).
Ø
Every single event in the past few years has
become hyped and politicized by the Media.
And, consequently, we have become a nation with a high cache of armchair
critics. The President is not respected
as an Office holder because other lesser office-holders have picked him apart so
badly (with the keen help of the Media) that people don’t know how to even
LISTEN in a non-partisan human way. We
have stopped listening for The Truth in what someone says because we are
convinced we know what that person is going to say even before it comes
out of their mouths. Watch the Talking
Heads on television how they consistently interrupt each other before they
finish sentences and ideas. Gone are the
days of the Philosophers in the common square who actually heard-out their
opponent’s platform on a topic, repeated it back to them so it was clear they
were responding to the right thing, and THEN made a rebuttal. Nope.
We just talk-OVER people. It
appears that self-absorption has become a virtue in our culture.
Ø
Due to
the political climate, there is a new tendency to assign the worst of intentions
to the actions and statements of others.
We have lost the concept St. Francis told us: “Seek first to understand.” When the President comes out and gives an
address that is initially bearing the objective of stopping outright panic, the
critics say, “he wasn’t being honest.”
As the situation developed, he needed to move to a new, heightened-awareness-approach
and issue some common sense precautions (which his critics didn’t want to hear either)
guided and informed by the medical community. Not surprisingly, he was accused
of not acting quickly enough. The
reality is: the situation is unfolding
before us. Neither the President, nor
the Medical Community had a complete grasp on what they were watching as this
illness moved through China and Italy, etc.
But the specialists were watching, and the scientists were getting geared
up as the thing did not peter-out across the Pond. This is the best part of America – behind the
scenes there are people who do this stuff daily and we are unaware of them in
their laboratories, etc. We are not all
privy to the same amount of information on the back-side of decisions made to
guide the public in containing this or any illness. But it might be time to consider that they
are giving it their best effort to address this.
Ø
We have yet to fully proclaim the uselessness of
the Blaming/Shaming activity that continues through our society. It is amazing that in a country where we can be
misguided enough to waive bail for criminals, and even give high level
politicians “passes” for drowning a campaign supporter off the East coast, we
will still engage in useless blaming in the middle of a potential health epidemic. Until we cut some slack and all work together
to do our part as “We the People” this American experiment is going to struggle
mightily. Let the scientists do their
science, and the doctors do their medicine, and the politicians seek the best
interest of the whole society instead of tearing at leadership while it is
trying to manage this.
Ø
Has anyone else noted the hypocrisy that some of the people who want our children to not bully others
in school seem to be the same adults that do bully others in their
political and work arenas. Hmm. Not good.
My observations are certainly generic and biased by my world
view. I accept that. I think we need to consider a new state of
mind in how we accept the valid direction of leadership. I won’t spell it out in my own words. I will leave you with some Bible passages to
ponder:
“The
fool says in his heart, ‘there is no God.’”
(Psalms 14:1)
“I
prayed to the Lord, and he answered me.
He freed me from all my fears.” (Psalms 34:4)
“For you have been called to live
in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But
don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one
another in love.” (Galatians 5:13)
“If you are always biting and
devouring one another, watch out! You
will end in mutual destruction.” (Galatians 5:15)
“I urge you, first of all, to pray
for all people. Ask God to help them;
intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in
authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and
dignity.” (1 Timothy 2:1-2)
“What good is fasting when you keep
on fighting and quarreling? …. Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter
to the homeless…” (Isaiah 58: 4, 7)
Regardless of how all this
quarantine and epidemic and national struggle works out,
For now, I leave you with this:
“This is the message you have heard
from the beginning: We should love one
another.” (1 John 3:11)
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