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Thursday, May 21, 2020

Who is the real enemy here?

I live in a fairly quiet neighborhood so you can understand why I became agitated as cars continually drove by laying on their horns from one end of the block to the end of the block two blocks away. The first few times I assumed were for the high school senior who is graduating a crossed the street and with all the senior parades and cruising nights that made sense, but when it persisted I had to go investigate. As I looked out the window of our porch on this dreary rainy cold day I saw two balloon bouquets with signs in the neighbors yard. Upon further inspection I could see the signs read, :Honk when you go by for {our neighbors name} in appreciation for her birthday beings they couldn't have a party. I thought that was a pretty cool thing to do but then the next sight left me scratching my head. There were several cars but all I could see was one lady with a mask over her face sitting in a lawn chair in the driveway in the midst of the rain and the owner of the house sitting in the garage door opening without a mask. I told my wife that they are practicing social distancing but must not have read the sign. I was still confused as there were far more cars than people, but my wife cleared everything up when she shared the garage is full of people.
Now my point isn't to belittle anyone or pass judgement but this truly reveals the desire most people have to be around others. Even the one wearing the mask faced the fear to sit in the rain and be in fellowship with her dear friend. I have wondered if she caught pneumonia from sitting in the rain, but that's not funny is it?
I have noticed two camps of people. Let me give you a scenario to see where you fall.
Settle down now, this is all in fun.
Let's say your sitting in your favorite chair on your porch with your favorite beverage and a great little snack, just watching the squirrels and birds, with an occasional family out for a walk. Every so often a car will pass and you wave because in my story we are all friends and that is what friends do. Anyway, a car suddenly catches your eye and as you turn to see it isn't the car it is what is inside. It looks like an alien and they are covered so you don't know if they are someone you know or not. They have a hazmat suit on and a respirator, not one of those flimsy paper ones, I'm talking about the kind with replaceable cartridges, charcoal filters and straps to secure it with rubber seals that seal tight against your skin. They have two sets of rubber gloves on in case one set is breached they will still have time to reach safety.
By now you have formed an opinion, probably that i am full of drama, but in regards to the driver.
The first group see this spectacle and shake their heads in approval of how seriously they are taking the threat and in fact probably have taken a couple of notes down to pick up some better gear to fight this pandemic. You see the logic in their decision and blow them a kiss as they drive by. unfortunately they don't see you because their safety goggles that prevent them from rubbing their eyes have fogged over.
The second group who undoubtedly has been laughing are those who have already labeled them as a fanatic with paralyzing fear. They actually might even get mad about the drastic depths this person is willing to go and even point out that medical experts have told them not to drive with masks its not safe or healthy.  This is quite a dilemma when two sides are so far apart and can't seem to see the logic through the biased set of glasses they are adorning. This seperation exists even among Christ followers.
So here is the lesson. You and I make strong arguments with little information. For instance we can only assume the covid is why they dressed that way and reject the idea they are on their way to a major accident with a chemical spill. You have to admit we don't know for sure. both groups are united in their assumption and both think they are right. This is called justification. We make an argument to support our conclusion and we have to "justify" it by any means possible. Let me ask you a question. Is it ok for two people to have opposing views and still fellowship? Of course not that would be like saying Christ could live among people. Oh..... wait ......He did. And He loved us so much He gave His life that we may gain life eternal. Let us not lose track of who the real enemy is here. Chew on that for a couple of days.
Till next time.
PM

Thursday, May 7, 2020

A little good news.

I have never enjoyed shopping! I just wanted to get that out there before I proceeded. Perhaps it was growing up where shopping night was every Tuesday and then when we got home we had wieners. Not the fancy kind that gets the whole neighborhood running to your place, the kind that are slender, slimy and always plenty of because no one looks at them and thinks, oh yummy, gotta have some. But I went faithfully with my mother every Tuesday even through a good share of high school, its just what we did. So of course when we had kids my thought was, there you go honey, you got plenty of help at the store so I don't have to go. Now, the older I get the wiser other people become and evidently the kids move out quickly so they can dump it back on me. It isn't that they don't want to be with mom, they just grew up thinking they were being punished. At least wal-mart has other areas that might keep our interest as we wander out of the food aisles and into the 5 dollar movie bin. But in my new investment of time to take my wife shopping I have done pretty good, don't bother asking her I just told you, other than a few times of lacking patience. Now recently thanks to the covid fear I enter a store and realize that I missed the memo that you should be wearing a face mask. Me being the adaptive type decided that if I had to go to the store and other areas that I would take my motorcycle wraps and wear them. They would be just as effective as some of the masks I have seen. Of course as I explained my idea of pulling up at the bank with a dew rag over my face and going up to the check out with one my wife became more insistent I just sit at home and wait for her to return. I looked over and the dogs gave me a look like, it's not so bad we'll save you a seat. Here is my point. Many of us have spent this entire time complaining about not being able to go out, we sit and listen to the reports not knowing what to believe and what to reject. We can't separate the lies from the truth, opinions from facts. I believe the source makes a difference but at the end of the day human intervention corrupts the reports based on emotion, perspective and let's face it, they take an objective truth and make it subjective. So where do we go that we can get the unbiased truth and not worry about warped perspectives? Let's start at my office....just kidding, even I have my opinions as most of you well know. The only place we can turn is to the pages of scripture. Now you might be thinking what does that have to do with our current situation? First off it's truth and truth has value for all things. secondly if you were to open the Bible you would quickly find that there have been many plagues over the years. Oh yeah and the best part for those who don't find value in the Old Testament, the New Testament says they will be more plagues coming. What kind, when and how long? Read your Bible and find out for yourself because if you ask someone else once again you are just reading thier take on it and you need to get this info first hand from a source you can trust. Paul tells Timothy in his fatherly advice, that "all scripture is inspired by God and profitable....... Literally the rendering is "God breathed" and the word profitable is "advantageous, helpful or serviceable". Isn't that what we need in our lives? Won't scripture show us how people of old responded to the threats and reveal how we are to respond now or in the future? Will it not offer us encouragement and strength when we feel depressed or helpless because of our situation. As soon as people quite thinking they have the answers and that the Bible is outdated, the sooner the "Church" can get busy doing what it is supposed to be doing. I hope this finds you where ever you are doing well and keep your eyes verticle because every direction you look horizontally will be dissappointing.
Till next time
P.M.