The 2020 presidential election was completed on 3rd of November. Yes there remains considerable uncertainty about the outcome, voter fraud, swing state certification, legal challenges, martial law, and who will be inaugurated on 20th January 2021.
But no matter what I think, for all but a few people (persons with standing, legislators, courts, congress) the time has come for Christians to turn to Jesus and to listen to Him. The elected authorities, put in place by God, are bound to follow State statutes and the U.S. Constitution to determine our next President. And no matter how much I might love this, or hate this, as a man called to be a disciple of Jesus, called to be a minister of His Gospel, I am commanded to submit and to obey!
Why then would I publish this article about Covid 19? I hope, and pray and believe that the time has come to put politics aside and to seriously consider exactly what is SARS-COV-2, the medical name for Covid 19, and to examine the facts of today. To consider what we might face tomorrow, without fear. And I am under no illusion of how unpopular I am about to become!
I believe that we are all, every single one of us, being wickedly manipulated!
If we all quarantined, I mean all and literally quarantined, there would be zero new infections today. I know this is not possible, starting with healthcare, and many of us can not quarantine. But lets at least ask if we can? Our ICU's are full.
I believe we need to pause. To ask God for His direction. To be informed on the facts as they pertain to us individually. This not the flu and neither is it Ebola. Fear has no place here. This is when we must turn to Jesus and to ask for His discernment.
I can attest to this being a genuine patient case filmed last week at an SSM Hospital in St Louis. Look at what is required to prone a patient to help their lungs recover. 4 minutes: 23 seconds: is all I ask ....
Under 40: this is what asymptomatic contagion shares with a vulnerable neighbor 41-65: this could be you but is more likely to be what you share with your elderly parents 66-85: you would be better playing Russian roulette Elderly, immune compromised: stay away
I live in Arnold, Missouri, where I walk the local sub division and talk with residents, and fellow dog walkers, on PTSD, substance abuse, mental health disorders, the grief in losing a child and current affairs, but in essence trying to be a witness for Jesus, praying, just being, speaking and literally loving my neighbors.
It was not surprising to bump into Bob Davidson, Friday November 27th, walking his dog Willow. Bob works as Vice President Marketing and Communications for SSM Health in Missouri. Our conversations up to this point have been wide ranging indeed. From biblical doctrine to exposing energy efficiency scams. And most recently the role of social media in hospital communications. Being the Friday after Thanksgiving, I asked Bob if he had any opinion on impact of Thanksgiving travels on Covid 19 infections and if this would impact hospital capacity in St Louis hospitals. I had heard about availability of ICU's beds in St Louis and wanted to ask someone who might know the facts. I am as tired of media hype, or denial, as the next person. We need truth!
Bob came right to the point. "We are approaching 100% capacity and are starting to send stroke, heart attack and other ICU patients to the county hospitals or to Illinois." But to my actual question, I saw his eyes glint with real anger, and he said, "our staff are exhausted and overwhelmed. They are placing their lives at risk and they cannot understand why people are behaving like this. We had one patient who literally dies, saying that we need not call his family as it was just the flu. The next few weeks as the effects of Thanksgiving travel and socialization are going to be horrible".
I went away deeply troubled. It is scary to be a witness to the facts. It is no fun to be a messenger in this post election hyper, and hypo, media time. This is what is happening in Missouri: ( https://covidtracking.com/data/#state-mo) (# tests, #infections, # ICU beds, #on ventilator today) and we cannot simply carry on like this.
I understand the pharma lobbyists who want to sell us vaccinations. I understand the people who are lost and scared. I understand that we have a government who wants to either control us or else ignore us. I understand the concerns of vulnerable minorities who are taking the brunt of this virus. I understand the fears of the elderly who are immune compromised. I understand there are people who need a job. I understand the depression of those who are being told to isolate. I understand the mainstream media who love to promote fear. I understand those who believe that this is like the flu. I understand those who think the other side opened, or shut down, our economy to win an election. I understand my own desires for I have been afraid and I know death. I believe that our only hope is in Jesus.
Mary and I met Bob this morning as we reached the end of our walk this morning. What he predicted last Friday is today's reality. I wish he and I were wrong, but we are not. There are no more ICU beds in the greater St Louis area. It is 10 days after Thanksgiving and 1,000's of people in our community, are either feeling unwell, or have asymptotically infected a neighbor who is about to get unwell. Many people are going to need medical attention, some intensive care and some a ventilator, if they are to beat the virus that is developing into SARS, right now.
You may not agree with the governors of California this morning. But if the people will not listen, who is going to defend the health care workers shown in this video? Five dedicated people, doing this multiple times each day, at risk and fighting for our lives? Where do they go to mourn the lost?
Editorial
It is Sunday. This is the day I most often would preach to our church family. It is my day to share good news of Jesus, who when asked how we keep all of God's commandments said, "first, love God with all your body, mind and Spirit and second, love your neighbor likewise."
I have a tendency to shout at people who are not listening to reason. This is not good. I refuse to shame people into listening. That is less good. In this "now time" please believe me when I say that I am not trying to prove a point here. This is not about masks. This is not about politics. This is not about blaming the past for we have all made mistakes. We all need Gods grace.
This is about loving God and loving our neighbor. Possibly starting with the question, "who is our neighbor". Maybe its a spouse, a parent, an uncle, a grandparent, a child, a church member, a co worker, a health care worker, a person in line with us at the store, a person who breaths the air we just breathed out, a customer, a fellow patron, a person who needs that job which was lost because of community infection rates. We all have many neighbors.
I do not believe that any government, or any authority has the the information to decide how we should each love our neighbor, as this pertains to getting infected with this virus, or infecting anyone else with this virus. There will be plenty time to quarterback this virus. Should we have shut down, could we have been more aggressive, less aggressive, and the myriad of questions that are to be answered. But none of these questions relieve us of the imperative obligation to love our neighbor. The time to examine what that is, is right right now today. Government will be forced to intercede if we refuse to love our neighbor. And they will do it at the general level, which is certain to be too much, or too little.
We all know how old we are and we know our own health. This is the time to get objectively accurate. If you are overweight and have diabetes, quarantine! If you have high blood pressure, quarantine. Unless you cannot, in which case measure the risk with the reward, quarantine. Look at the data, how many open beds are there in your community. If there are few, quarantine.
The healthcare workers cannot cope with the infections in most of our communities. There are infected people who are going to need hospital attention over the next 9 weeks. You have an opportunity to not add yourself to their burden.
If you are under 40, and have a strong immune system. Do not get infected! You will probably not know it. You will breathe, and if you are infected you will breathe virus into your surroundings for 3-5 days. Only you can decide if you could be infected, quarantine. Only you know where you are going to be breathing, be careful. Only you can decide how to breathe, what to wear and if that will reduce the risk of sharing what you breathe out.
PS: I did a quick calculation: There are 7005 people on a ventilator with ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome) as the result of Covid 19 in our hospitals right now. Wile I have been writing this article 35,025 medical professionals will have performed the prone procedure shown in the video at least once. By tonight, every one of them will have watched a person die, and probably alone. We have to do better at containing this virus!
Get Smart about Politics™