Journaling the Coronavirus (COVID19) Pandemic, Reflection #46
April 27, 2020
Was there not enough…I ask of God.
Do you sometimes ask of God? That old adage, supposedly in the bible, but not really, “God will not give you a burden that you are not strong enough to carry,” comes to mind. No, it’s not in the bible, although Corinthians does mention not being given more temptation than you can handle.
So, how were things going before the virus? How much worse did things get because of the virus? How much did things get better? There is a silver lining in all abrupt and violent changes. Many times it is only in people getting close together to handle the situation that results. That was the case after 911 and its the case now. So many pay a huge price, like small business owners and operators across the land. The national response to 911 was as bizarrely inequitable and unfair, in general, as it has been to the virus, but we do not live at the general level, at least not most of us. We live at home, at work, and out at the shops and among the people in our communities.
Have you not noticed that more people wave at one another than before? Driving is a more simple affair, although there are a few instances of rage because people are so upset about other things? The air is clearer, the water purer and the system has not failed. We are not out of food at stores or other staples either. There is doom and gloom coming out of the television set every day but the awful car crashes and murders are no longer much there to befuddle and make us feel bad. The virus news replaced that. Note that good news is not a staple of mass media. We watch bad news because, over time, the media figured out that we feel better about our own situation, which is not as bad when we watch others in worse trouble. So they give us worse trouble.
Fight that tendency to go with that. I constantly, or at least intermittently, comment about the New Testament. Read those parts that make you feel great, like the 23rd Psalm. “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
Go out today with the smile you now should have spreading across your face after reading that, and wearing the armor of Christ on your chest.
How are things affecting You? Share below
I am amazed at how quickly the world of advertising shifted their campaigns to reflect the current conditions. The message of “ you can adjust to the new normal”…my personal favorite…Jared’s Jewelry wants to be a partner in your “virtual wedding”….
Some positive rays in this bleak news period we are all suffering through…not to mention the crushing reality of having no job, no money and zero prospects.
Carry conceal rears its ugly head, slowly but surely.
Semper fi,
Jim
Blessings, James! This has been a wake up call for many of us and also for the churches on how to reach out in a new way. You can really see who in the media, Congress, politicians, mayors, governors, the wealthy like Soros and Mike, businesses, really “walks the talk.”
Finally got my wife walking everyday with me and the dog after 15 years. You find out now more about your neighbors who care about helping elderly people like us. For years I have walked the dog late at night and rang their doorbells to tell them to close their garage doors. I saved the life of the then 92 year old Marine aviator widower neighbor who lives behind me a couple of years ago and then helped care for him and his dog. We finally got him into a retirement center. He is still alive. Hope somebody does that for me someday if I live that long.
You also find out how selfish we and others can be about hoarding. It’s easy to think we are having a tough time financially and that we may run out of meat, TP, and other things. Then we get little reminders of how blessed we are as Americans compared to millions around the world that are starving, being killed, persecuted for their faith in N Korea, Africa, China, and other countries, and the many including hundreds of vets and children who have no place to lay their heads at night even in America.
While many are fighting the virus and medical personnel are trying to keep them alive, millions of babies and children around the world are still being killed. The media for the most part have been horrible trying to get people to like socialism. It would be nice if they just reported the news without all the judgments and condemnations of other people. They have no idea what socialism/communism is or they would be scared to death. My wife as a 10 year old went from ShangHai to Siberia and starved for about 3 years. Finally in 1965 she and her mother where about the only ones to get out of the Soviet Union alive during those times and come to the USA.
Judgement day is “a coming.” I just remembered the old saying – “Only one life, “twill soon be past; only what’s done for Christ will last.” C.T. Studd
Sorry for the ramblings. Thank you for sharing so much of your life with us other veterans. I was the Assistant Chemical Officer, IFFORCEV, June 1968 – May 1969, under LTG Peers. ARVN II Corps area. HQ in the old Duy Tan Hotel by the beach. Nha Trang – where your music came from that inspired your mission plan names. Never got to use the beach. It’s a long boring story. Nowhere as exciting as yours.
Man oh man, but that was a comment indeed. Thanks so much for laying down your own thoughts and experiences. You sound like a terrific guy.
Funny when I found out that Brother John was not at Nha Trang. He only said that in his recordings. He also sounded like he was black.
Actually, he was a white preacher in Illinois recording in his church. Real life, so different than we expect.
Semper fi,
Jim
The 23 Psalm and the Lords Prayer or Disciples Prayer are always close by.
For me too Raymond, although not back then…back then it was footsteps in the sand while carried me.
Semper fi,
Jim
Thanks for your reflections… It seems many people need a good writer, whose words and thoughts connect with them and their own situations… Thanks again so much for your wonderful work…
You are most welcome Terrance and thanks for commenting on here.
Semper fi,
Jim
I like that. We see a common shared humanity in people respecting each other, talking, here in our small community.
You are correct that media peomotes doom and gloom every day 24/7 and it distorts our sense of our common humanity.
Good New Testament words for reflection.
Thank you, thank God.
Thanks Mike, much appreciate having a kindred soul out there…there are a good many more on this site and it keeps me going.
Semper fi,
Jim