Month: May 2020

We are in the Memorial Day weekend.  Memorial Day is set aside to honor veterans who died while serving in the military.  Freedom is a dangerous thing, and it is expensive.  It must not be taken lightly.  People won’t give up their freedoms voluntarily, not in one full swoop.  Freedoms are taking away in bits and pieces.  Corrupt businesses and corrupt government officials with nefarious intents know they can’t come in with an iron fist and rule with unquestioned totalitarianism. They first, for all intents and purposes, dangle the deadly carrot in front of the masses to lead them off the cliff into the abyss of freedoms lost forever.  Small little things, oh so subtle, so subtle to where some will say “I don’t see what the big deal is”, “It’s just temporary”,  “It’s for the greater good”.  The problems is, it is a big deal.  What if it is not temporary, how is any loss of freedoms good?   This will pull the rest of us off the cliff with them.

There are some positive signs.  In several states the people are saying , “ENOUGH”.  And it is enough.  It is time to go back to the park, to the pool, anywhere you want to go as a free citizen.  And it is time to go back to church.  Save the online worship option if you are ill, or out of town and want to worship with your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.  It’s time to jump back in the water, tread the waters of freedom, and swim in America again.  People died for that right, don’t blow it because unethical governors and other politicians want control.  They work for us, we are not their slave.

The ‘stay at home’ order has, to some degree, been lifted.  But, only to some degree.  There are still plenty of restrictions, limitations, and cancellations.  Monday was the first day back at work since April 1st.  Nothing overly stressful.  I believe as word gets around we have opened back up, we will begin getting very busy.   I now see why I am not a doctor or nurse, you know, besides the fact, of my less than stellar grades in chemistry and biology.  I hate wearing mask.  They are especially more challenging to those of us who wear glasses.

I am now referring to this season as Springter-20.  It is the spring season, but when we are looking at temperatures in the 40’s, well then, that is more winter then it is spring.  I don’t know if the COVID-19 scare will keep all the area swimming pools closed or not.  I hope they will open.  If the weather doesn’t improve soon, the pandemic won’t be the issue for the pools.  It has to actually be warm enough to keep the pools from forming ice.

I still don’t know when road races will resume, or how it will be handled.  Cancellations  and postponements continue.  I imagine when they resume, they will sell out quickly.  Hopefully sometime in June we will see them begin.

 “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! ²³ Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.”

Luke 6:22-23 ESV

One of my favorite hymns is How Great Thou Art.  Scrolling through some of my pictures, this one above made me think of this song.  I’m actually listening to Paul Baloche sing it right now on iTunes.  What a gifted worship pastor he is.

The state and county ordered ‘stay at home’ order has been lifted, to some degree.  Not enough I am sure, but, I am headed back to work today, and it has been a long time.  Yesterday I believe I said it had been almost 7 weeks, I think it has actually been closer to 6.  But, who’s counting?  I am not sure what to expect, as I mentioned yesterday, the last few days we were open before the shut down were not pleasant.  Maybe with most of all our full time employees returning, things will seem a little more stable.  I am sure as word gets out our store is opened back up, people will flock in in droves.  I still have two weeks of vacation I have to use up in the next 5-6 weeks.  Now that will be interesting how my company will handle that predicament.

My pastor today made me remember just how much God is in control with this whole Covid-19 situation.  By the way, He is in complete control.  While I haven’t enjoyed a lot of the restrictions that have been put into place, most especially the not being able to go to church in person aspect, I now see a wonderful ministry opportunity.  Invite people online.  Some people if you invite them to attend church in person, maybe they will accept, maybe they won’t.   If they do attend, maybe they will get something out of the message, maybe they won’t.  Maybe a seed will be planted in their heart, maybe not yet.  Maybe that day they will accept Christ, maybe not yet.  Right now, so many people who are not saved are looking for answers, they are looking for hope.  Those who are saved are looking for answers and comfort as well.  Maybe, just maybe, if we invite a friend or a neighbor to watch church online, maybe, just maybe they will find Christ.  Wouldn’t that make this temporary halt to normalcy worth it.  I know it would be to the person who was lost, but is no longer.  And the hymn How Great Thou Art will mean so much to them.

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Romans 10:13 ESV

One of the things I am missing with all this madness is my road races.  I hope soon they will relax the “social distancing” enough to allow the races to resume.  Over the past 9 years or so I have run over 30 different races.  The one pictured above is one of my favorites.  It was called Get Your Rear In Gear, supporting colorectal cancer research.  I did have one issue with this race.  It did not use chip timing.  I think, but can’t prove, that I was cheated out of a third place finish in my age division.  I don’t think it was deliberate, but when you are depending on someone with an electronic stopwatch to record your finish time, they are unable to be as efficient or as accurate as a chip on your shoe or bib.  A bib is your number, often times the chips are attached to them.  The gloves you see me wear have become sort of my trademark.  Not that I have a following that anyone would know I do this.  It just kind of became my thing for me.  Plus, they serve a huge benefit in case I trip and take a hard spill on the ground, a leather glove can help the hands.  I generally wear them on my non race runs too.  Though yesterday, I did forget to bring them on a 5 mile run.  Thankfully, no nasty spills.

While organized road races have not resumed, (virtual racing is an option, I have voiced my opinion a time or two on that ridiculous choice) supposedly Monday, it will be back to the grind at work.  I am ready to go back to work.  I just hope it will be better than it was the last 3 days before we shut down for close to 7 weeks.  Those days were nothing short of miserable and boring.  Sporadic customers, and a skeleton crew.  It really was depressing, most of my fellow employees were not there, and we really didn’t know what was going to happen as the ‘stay at home’ order was taking effect.  My company had tried to claim being open as an essential business, they soon abandoned that ideal and shut down all near 900 stores.  They have begun to open some stores in different parts of the country, mine opens 9 AM tomorrow.  There will be still, I am sure, various restrictions.  It is a baby step, but maybe one closer to diving in, and swimming in America again, and tread the waters of freedom.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³ If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,^[a] but have not love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant ⁵ or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;^[b] 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

⁸ Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. ¹¹ When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. ¹² For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

¹³ So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

I Corinthians 13 ESV

We may have light at the end of the tunnel.  My boss called and told me to report back to work on Monday.  It will be just shy of a 7 week unplanned vacation.  I wish the weather had been a bit more cooperative, but, here we are.  Things will still be far from any normalcy.  We will be required to wear mask while at work.  The closing time has been moved up by an hour.  I don’t know what the policy will be on returns, the option had been suspended before we closed down.

I wish this pandemic was just a horrible dream, or a macabre episode of a horrifying TV series.  If it was a TV show, I wonder what the name of the episode would be.  I think I would choose, The year the earth stopped spinning.   Sounds apropos to me.  But sadly, as we know, this is not a bad dream or a horrifying TV show or movie.  I suppose the way some public officials have handled this situation may be a matter for another time.  There are always two extremes in a crisis.  There are those who sit idly by, basically they don’t go far enough in a resolve.  Then there are those who go way too far.  We are seeing both extremes.

Growing up, I didn’t realize all the TV show episodes I watched actually had names.  Now days it is easy to see with a quick internet check or streaming device.  But most all the shows from the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and forward, had a title. Probably even from the dawn of TV.  But who knew that before the internet and VHS/DVD/Blu Ray?  Maybe they were listed in the TV guides from the newspaper, or in TV Guide (do people still read that?), but I don’t think I ever took notice.  Most of the TV shows I enjoy are classics, from years ago.  But I do enjoy watching a few that are more current.  I have a bit of a collection of different TV show series, either on dvd, or digital.  When Hollywood begins filming TV shows and movies again, I wonder how they will address the COVID-19 situation.  Knowing their reputation, I fear that not all sides will be fairly portrayed.  But we shall see.

I just hope they emphasis what a privilege it is to swim in America and tread the waters of freedom.  Speaking of a privilege, I am reminded of a stanza from an old hymn, What A Friend We Have In Jesus.

What a Friend we have in Jesus,
  All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
  Everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
  O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
  Everything to God in prayer!

 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. ² And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

I John 2:1-2 NKJV

I used to love amusement parks, still do actually.  I even worked at one for a while in high school.  It was called Hamel’s, owned by a family of the same name whose primary business was dairy.. It wasn’t the biggest park in the world, it was barely bigger than a traveling carnival.  I spent a lot of my time there in the petting zoo, babysitting the pygmy goats and providing change for the kids to buy food in the machine to feed them.

The roller coaster pictured above is The Mamba, at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City MO.  I don’t know if they will plan on opening this season or not.   I hear that the Disney parks may not open back up at all this year.

I still don’t know the status of working next week.  Maybe later today the store manager will let us know what is going on.  More of the ‘stay at home’ order is set to loosen some this weekend.   Probably not enough, but maybe it is a step in the right direction.

As stores begin to open, and signs of life return, we sometimes hear the saying a new normal.  I don’t like the term, or the ideal of it.  I don’t particularly care for change.  That is I don’t  like change just for the sake of changing.  I want that any big change to be thoroughly though out and all the pros and cons weighted carefully.  Change can be good. It can be bad.  It can be noble, it can be ludicrous.  Just because a governing authority says a certain change is for the common good, that doesn’t mean it is.  In fact, I would be more suspicious if that claim was made.

As we get back to where we were, any changes that are made, hopefully we make, not a new normal, but a better normal.  Not better as defined by some leaders, but better for all aspects, including not just health and well being, but also small businesses and personal freedoms.  When I dive back into a pool and swim in America again, while treading the waters of freedom, I don’t want the new normal to be an empty pool.

 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Romans 13 :10 ESV

Day 45 is here, that is really quite a while.  Just how long IS long enough to be under some type of quarantine?    I read that in Dallas TX a hair saloon owner refused to close  her business for a few more days, (this coming Friday) and was told by the judge if she would apologize and agree to keep her business closed, she would avoid jail time.  She refused both offers, and has been arrested and sent to jail for 7 days, plus something like a $7,000 fine.  The attorney general of Texas, and the honorable governor (Greg Abbott) have both asked the judge to free her, believing the punishment was excessive.  And it was.  Protest like hers are going to be more and more frequent if this madness doesn’t end quickly.  And Texas is a very conservative state.  Other states with liberal governors like say, oh, I don’t know, Michigan maybe, who knows what is in store.  People who love this country are tired of having their rights stepped on, their livelihoods threatened, and having to rely on the government for assistance, to assist by the way in the clean up of a mess they helped create.  Also, it is getting quite tiring to be called selfish because some of us are ready to enjoy our freedoms again.  It is not selfish if we are ready to go back to normalcy.  If we don’t want to wear a mask everywhere we go.  If someone is afraid to go outside, then it is their right to stay inside.  If someone is afraid of getting sick, it is their right to wear a mask anywhere and everywhere they go.  But for Pete’s sake, they need to wear a fresh one at all times.  Here is something that I find almost amusing…Almost.  I am sure you have noticed in some stores directional signs, usually on the floor, to try to regulate social distancing for shoppers.  I am not sure they serve much purpose, not all stores use them, and I think they are doing just fine.  But,  I do try and follow them, sometimes I miss one.  But it seems many shoppers are oblivious to them, or ignore them.  I observed today a shopper that didn’t seem to follow the rules, a shopper who was wearing a mask.   If some people want to go throwing the word selfish around, well I believe not following posted rules qualifies more than not wearing a mask, or wanting to live my life in freedom.   It is the same with vaccines.  I do not believe I have ever gotten a flu shot.  Same principle applies.  If I don’t take the flu shot, I should not be a threat to someone who has.  If someone gets the flu, and they were able to get a flu shot, but didn’t, then whose fault is that?  If someone who did not take a flu shot, gives me the flu, and I did not take the shot either, then it is my fault if I get sick.  But it was my choice to not take it.  That is part of swimming in America and treading the waters of freedom.

The squirrels don’t  have a ‘stay at home’ order.  They have been working feverishly since all the madness began.  This little fella was munching on supper near a picnic table at a local swimming pool that may not even open this summer, and that will be ashamed.   I would think that there are plenty of safeguards that can be followed in order to let the pools open for the summer.  One local suburb has already announced they won’t be opening.  It may be a big business year for stores that sell backyard above ground pools, maybe a record year.  That will be good for retail stores, hopefully the small stores that sell summer gear will be recovering in time for the summer fun.  They have to be allowed to open, and open without ridiculous restrictions.  Supposedly most stores will be opening in my county next week, including mine.  We shall see.

I’ve mentioned something similar before, but when I imagined what it would be like to have several weeks off of work, paid, this was not what I envisioned.  I thought something more of a beach house hut, with beautiful scenery and access to the best seafood, the best beach runs, fishing, parasailing, maybe go in a shark cage.  OK, maybe not that, but I do feel I am in a cage, threatened by the predator known as socialism.  I don’t know if the pools will open this summer, or whether the ridiculous option is chosen and they will stay closed.   I still want to be able to swim strong in America, and continue to tread the waters of freedom.

³ For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. ⁴ For as in one body we have many members,^[e] and the members do not all have the same function, ⁵ so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. ⁶ Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; ⁷ if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; ⁸ the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads,^[f] with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

Romans 12:3-8  ESV

Nothing like watching an elephant sliding down a snow capped hill to bring a little humorous levity in this crazy ‘stay at home’ madness.  And now, by popular demand, it is being held over for it’s 43rd consecutive day!   Will this be the last week I am not working?  Who knows?

I collect elephants.  The one pictured above is in fact, named Wheeee!, and it is one of my favorites.  I have been collecting elephants probably 25 years now.  Some collectors claim it is bad luck to have an elephant with the trunk down.  I don’t buy into such nonsense.  I have some such pachyderms in my collection.   Speaking of nonsense, have I mentioned it is day 43?  It is time to go back to work.  I don’t like this trial package of socialism.  Hopefully this fall, most voters won’t care much for their free sample either.  I think I may collapse trying to stay afloat in the waters of tyranny.   Swimming in America is grand, it is a gift from God I believe.  But you have to either keep swimming, or tread the waters of freedom.  If we stall,  drowning in socialism is a certainty.

Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Psalm 119:105 NKJV

Day 42 of the fun and laughs has arrived.  Stimulus checks have begun being issued.   I did my part to help stimulate the economy at a local hamburger stand by indulging in this wonderful cheeseburger.  Thankfully most restaurants and such have been allowed to continue during all the madness.  To me there is nothing tastier than local food stands or restaurants, compared to the national chains.  In times like this……Wait, times like this, what does that mean?  There has never been a time like this.   A time where the government shuts downs certain businesses for the public good, while big box stores are allowed to remain open.  The smaller stores, who are not essential, are forced to shudder until the government tells them they can open again.  Hopefully that will be very soon.  It seems to me a store with an occupancy of 30, that is half full, poses less danger than a big box store with 100 people inside, but, maybe it is just me.  Back to my point on local businesses.  The local food places are allowed to stay open, so hopefully they will survive the restrictions on their business.  But the local ma and pa stores, that have had to shudder for 6 weeks or so, they may not survive all this.  And that will be tragic if good people lose their business because they had to shut down because of staying open was perceived as a threat to the public good.

As the economy begins to open back up, ever so slowly, it will be interesting to see how different things will be.  When we eat out and sit down at a restaurant again how will seating change.  When we get a haircut, will the barber or stylist be in a haz mat suit?  Will the swimming pools be allowed to open, anywhere?  What about water parks and amusement parks?  An empty pool during the summer will be but a sad metaphor of the stifling the ability to swim in America and tread the waters of freedom.  And most important, the return to places of worship.  For me that would be church.  My church has a very large membership, with multiple services.  I enjoy going to what is called The Venue service, with more contemporary type singing, songs you might hear on KLOVE.  But it will be interesting to see how social distancing will be handled.  Hopefully soon questions will be answered, and there won’t be attendance guidelines set by governing authorities.

This is the day that the Lord has made;
    let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:24 ESV