MIDNIGHT MASS 2020: A VERY SHORT STORY

MIDNIGHT MASS 2020

  A Very Short Story

  “Jenkins, the Chief wants to talk to you,” the voice echoed in Jenkin’s earpiece.
  “Jenkins?”
  “Yes, Sir!”
  “Get over there to that Delaware Street church immediately.  We’ve gotten at least ten calls so far from the neighborhood reporting a large gathering of people singing Christmas carols!”
  “I’m already there, Chief.”
  “Well, what’s goin on?”
  “I think maybe you need to come down here to see for yourself, Chief.”
  “Hey, you’re not my boss, Jenkins.  I’m not comin down there.  That’s why I have deputies like you.  Now what in sam hell is goin on down there?”
  “Well, that church parking lot is pretty large, you know.  And it’s filled with people.  They’re holding candles and singing Christmas carols.  They’re waiting for the Midnight service to start, and they’re going to watch it on their phones.”
  “For God’s sake, they’re gonna set each other on fire.”
  “They’re all battery operated candles, Sir.”
  “Oh for Christ’s sake.  You get on your bullhorn right now and tell them they’re in violation of the social distancing guidelines and to go home or to face immediate arrest.”
  “Sir, they are all standing six feet apart and all wearing masks!”
  “I don’t give a shit how far apart they’re standing.  You get that crowd dispersed immediately.”
  “Sir, I don’t think you understanad.”
  “Oh, I understand all right.  This town has a large segment of senior citizens and these god damned right wing radicals are putting all those elderly folks at risk.  Now get them dispersed, Jenkins, or I will have your badge!  How many deputies you have down there right now?”
  “There are six of us, Chief, and with all due respect, Sir, I....a...well, you’re not getting the picture here....”
   “Look, Jenkins, I’ll call the Brownland chief and have him send his officers if my own deputies can’t step up to the plate or is it won’t step up to the plate?  Which is it, Jenkins?”
  “Sir, a...every person here is at least over sixty-five.  Some are in wheelchairs, quite a few have walkers, some are carrying those portable oxygen tanks, and some look like they escaped from a nursing home.”
  The Chief was silent.  And then growled.  “All of them?  Every single last one of them?”
  “Yes, sir, All of them.  And they’re carrying signs.  Some say God matters and others read Faith matters.
“Is this a joke, Jenkins? Is this some kind of stunt?  What will these white evangelicals think of next?"

“With all due respect, Sir, a.a...there are all kinds of folks here.  Mexicans, Black people, even a group of Vietnamese people from Orange County.  And some one must have a police scanner because they know we’re talking and even what we’re saying.”
“For God’s sake, switch over to the secure channel.”
“That’s the channel that got defunded last month, Chief.”
“What?  What are you talking about?  Okay, okay, I got it.”
“Sir, there are folks here from all over the southern part of the state.”
“How do you know that?”
“There are busses parked on the street.”
“My God, Jesus Christ, what is this?”
“Sir, I just think you should come down here and get a first hand look for yourself.  The crowd is peaceful and following all the rules!”
“Are you a part of this movement, Jenkins?”
“No, Sir!  I’m too young for one thing.”
“Just start arresting people, Jenkins, and they will disperse pretty quickly.”
“Sir, if I begin arresting people, what do I do about their wheelchairs, their oxygen tanks, their walkers, and I’m afraid I’d break a few bones.  With all due respect, Chief, you’re not getting the picture.  These folks are all...well, old, I mean OLD, like your Dad.”
“Don’t be bringin my Dad into this.”
“I’m just trying to tell ya, Chief.  You need to get down here.”
“Go into that church and arrest that priest.”
“For what, Sir?”
“For disorderly conduct, for unauthorized assembly...whatever!”
“Sir, I tried to enter the church.  The doors are all locked, and there’s no one in the church but the priest.  There’s not even an altar boy!”
“A what?”
"An altar boy, you know?
“No, I don’t know.”
“Well, there’s no one in the church but the priest.  This gathering is all outside the church and all on church property, standing six feet apart and wearing masks.”
“How do you know they’re six feet apart, Jenkins?  Did you measure the distance between each person?”
“No, sir, but someone did!  Just like in the store.  There are these diamonds painted on the parking lot pavement showing people where to stand.”
“Jesus Christ!  This is some kind of conspiracy!”
“Hold on, Chief.  Someone is making an announcement.”
  We want to let everyone here know, that the three of us here have set up a trust fund in three different local banks.  And anyone who contracts the virus over the next fourteen days, we will provide complete in home care for you.  All you have to do is hang on to that wrist band we gave you.
“Sir, could you hear that?”
 “Jesus Christ!  Who are those nut jobs?”
“I think they’re the three most wealthy men in the county, Chief!  They just happen to be church goers.  Maybe if you came down here, you could talk to them in person.”
“Fuck you, Jenkins.  You are about to be fired.  I am on my way!”
“The crowd knows you’re on your way, Chief, and I don’t know if you can hear them chanting.”

WE LOVE THE CHIEF!   WE LOVE THE CHIEF!   WE LOVE THE CHIEF!   WE LOVE THE CHIEF!   WE LOVE THE CHIEF!  WE LOVE THE CHIEF!  WE LOVE THE CHIEF!

“I don’t give a shit whether they love me or not.  I hope they heard that too.  I’ll be there as soon as I can get a team together of deputies who are not afraid to enforce the law and get this crowd of people to go home.  And that priest is going to have hell to pay.”  
 

THERE IS SO MUCH ABOUT US THAT IS PRETTY AWESOME

  There has been an on-going conversation from the beginning of time about the nature of the universe and the nature of God.  Some philosophers see perfection as the absence of change while others see change as an essential part of perfection.  In the latter thinking, the focus is not on BEING but on BECOMING!

   Personally, I believe that, as human beings, we are always growing, developing, and changing, and there never comes a point when that process ends.  And since we are made in the image and likeness of God, I think God is infinitely changing as well!
  

  In our urgency to hold on to the changeless, we used to think, for example, that the brain had x number of cells and new cells were never created.  Now we know that the brain, like any other part of our body, also generates new cells.  So change and development is a critical part of who we are!  And throughout this post, my use of the phrase, developing human being, applies to ALL of us no matter how old we are.  So at age 75, I continue to be a developing human being.  I am not the same person today that I was yesterday!

  And speaking of the brain, I’d like to share with you a little bit about what I know of how our brain develops and works.  It is absolutely interesting and fascinating and does not require us to be or become rocket scientists to grasp.

  It is amazing, for example, that our amygdala is fully-developed and functioning at age seven months in the womb!  Whoa!  We have two amygdala, one on the left side of the brain and one on the right side.  It is here that we give emotional meaning or significance to each and every life experience.

  So let’s back up and take a look at an overall view of how our brain works in general.  We take in information through our sensory organs.  So, our ears, eyes, nose, taste, and skin.  Did I leave anything out?  That information, taken in by these sensory organs, goes directly to our thalamus which is a small pea-shaped part of the limbic system or inner brain.  The thalamus literally decides what information to send forward to our cerebrum, and, in particular, the prefrontal lobe, where we begin THINKING about the information or the experience, if you will.  But before the information can get to our thinking brain, the information gets leaked, so speak, to the amygdala.  The amygdala processes the information emotionally and sends an immediate message to our muscles.  Our muscles then move us either toward or away from the experience.  It is similar in some ways to the flight-fight reflex, but NOT the same.

  The limbic system (emotional brain) and the cerebrum (thinking brain) then begin to “dialogue” about our experience, and, at some point, we make a decision about how we are going to respond behaviorally to the particular situation.    

  This neurological dialogue does not become fully functional or fully developed till we are about seven or eight years old when the corpus collosum matures.  It is a strip, so to speak, that runs down the middle of the brain and allows the left and right hemispheres to dialogue back and forth.  But the emotional processing of our experiences is fully functional at age seven months in the womb.

  Our brain, in general, continues to develop throughout our life time.  Major changes occur during adolescence.  And even at age 26, the parietal lobe matures, so to speak, so we finally develop the neurological capacity to see life from a “big picture” perspective.  That is why the cost of automobile insurance traditionally decreases after age 26!

  So the point of all my ramblings is that we are ALL developing human beings no matter what age we are, and we can actually track our development.  BUT, is there an age when we can say, “okay, I am no longer a developing human being?”  And if so, what age might that be?  

  Recently, many governments have either ruled or suggested that people over a certain age should or must shelter in place.  Ouch!  Such a move would literally destroy me economically.  The move suggests that I can no longer defend myself against disease, even though, I haven’t had the flue in over ten years (WITHOUT a flu shot), and I am very picky about my diet, and I walk 6 miles four times a week at a fifteen minute per mile pace.  I think I can decide for myself how to insure that I protect myself against viruses and diseases.  My immune system continues to grow and develop and protect me, even if it is not as functional as it used to be when I was younger,  BUT how do we know that and how do we measure that?  As far as I know, my immune system is producing sufficient T-helper cells, but maybe it’s not! 

  I have almost no visceral awareness of my age.  I can walk farther and faster than most of you who are younger than I am.  The one area of my life that lets me know that I am older is my eyesight.  My eyesight, not my vision!  Others may see me as “old” but I don’t experience myself as old.  I am good to go for....  Well, I use to aim to live to be a hundred.  Now, I live for today and to live today with all the gusto I can create for myself.

  I love to laugh and I laugh a lot.  And I love to cry and I cry a lot.  Did you know that chemically, there are nine different kinds of tears?  The tears we produce when we are happy are different from the tears we produce when we are sad or angry!  They contain different kinds of hormones which help us deal with our anger or our grief or excitement or joy.  The tears that are generated when our eyes are irritated have no such hormones.  Those tears contain only lubricants.  So the notion that only babies cry is extremely unhelpful and counter to the way we are created!  So cry your eyes out! 

  Here’s something that is a tad unsettling for me to think about.  At what age is it completely acceptable for one developing human being to decide that another developing human being should no longer exist?  Who gets that privilege?  Yes, privlege.

  So at what point will folks, like myself, over an arbitrary age, be considered a burden to society?  And at what point will we be required to take a pill and never again be a burden to anyone?  Don’t just scoff at the question, especially if you’re “young.”  Think about it!

  As much as we think we live in a democracy, our country is still based upon an hierarchical system in which certain folks are believed to have privilege over other certain folks.  With privilege comes power.

  We often disguise this privilege by referring to it as our rights, and we like to think that we have God-given rights to take other people’s lives, other people who are developing human beings just like ourselves.  But it’s not a right but a privilege which comes from our belief that we are ABOVE those people whose lives we feel free to take.

    
  In the last four hundred or more years in this country, it has been an on-going privilege for so-called white people to take the lives of so-called non-white people whenever they chose to do so!  The so-called slaves’ lives were expendable.  And then there are the Indigenous people with an equally cruel history of "treatment" from so-called white people.  Some indigenous people were systematically removed from their land and then murdered ruthlessly.  The Chinese immigrants who were brought here to build the railroad are another shameful example!  And I am sure you each have your own stories of so-called non-white family members being persecuted, enslaved, and or killed.  Japanese Americans during World War II are another sad and lamentable example.   

  The systematic mistreatment and even killing of anyone who falls into the category of non-white continues to this day.  And don’t think for even a moment that there is a political party who is, in fact, doing anything about it.  Look beneath the surface.

  Yes, look beneath the surface.  Let’s ask this question.  What does any legislation do to promote the economic independence and success of so-called non-white citizens?  I dare you to make a list of so-called non-white millionaires and billionaires in this country and another list of so-called white millionaires and billionaires.  Why hasn’t either major political party done something to address this discrepancy?  I’m not talking about welfare legislation or even affirmative action.  I am inviting us to look way beyond that to a more generalized mindset and climate.    

  And lastly, the government has convinced us that it is our right to determine when to end the life of any developing human being yet to be born.  It is not a right!  There is no such thing.  But it is a privilege, the same way that so-called white people saw it as a privilege to end the lives of any so-called non-white persons they chose.  It’s not about right, but about privilege that comes with power that we choose to assert over anyone we deem beneath us and anyone we deem does not have a voice!

  This issue of ending the life of a developing human being yet to be born is NOT a political or economic or even a health issue.  This privilege that some hold so dearly is even beyond morals or ethics.

  Thinking and convincing ourselves that it is our privilege to take the life of another developing human being and even at times finding justification in Scripture no less, goes to the very foundation of who we are and who we are not.  And we don’t like to look at who we are and who we are not.

  The kind of thinking that makes it okay to take the life of another human being is driven by fear.  And by the way, fear and love are totally incompatible as we have so clearly seen demonstrated during the corona virus crisis.  We have bought into leaving our parents and even our children to face illnesses and even death alone in fear of what?  Ask yourself, in fear of what?  This same fear keeps us from confronting our California leaders’ complete and total double standards during the last eight months.  They require us to follow certain mandates which they see fit not to follow for themselves.

  What we are most afraid of obviously is death.  That is a huge topic.  AND we are ALL going to die sooner or later or later or sooner.  I am at peace with my death, and it does not dictate my day- to-day decisions.  Maybe all of us can get there and pass that on to our children so we are no longer vulnerable to being lead down paths that are ultimately not good for our children or our families.

  And if we are going to play the science card, then we better know something about science. One thing for sure, science is not an exact science but heavily based on probabilities.  And there’s nothing wrong with that.  But do your own research.  Understand, for example, the statistical phenomenon that two-thirds of the population gets better no matter what treatment they receive.  Ask yourself where science has been over the last how many years that we have dished out opioids like candy?

  I have a lot more to share, but I also have other endeavors that are callling to me.  So I hope I have given us all something to think about.  Something to think about and contemplate!  Finally, I would recommend we all read Isabelle Wilkerson’s recent work entitled Caste.

THANK YOU FOR READING.

  Oh, I almost forgot.  A final thought-filled question.  The child in the picture at the top of this post.  At what age do you think her mother has the privilege to terminate her life? 
 

I'M LOOKING FOR A LEADER

  Just for the record, I am a registered democrat.

  I have lived for a few years now.  Perhaps more than many of the young leaders in our country.  It is difficult to define young and old!  I actually never feel old until I have to get out of the back seat of a car or when I “climb” out of bed in the morning.  I stay healthy by avoiding bread and sugar and walking six miles in an hour an a half four times a week.  I have to admit that my downfall is ice cream, and I can easily convince myself that a little bit of ice cream is okay!  And it is.  The only problem is I never have a little bit!

  From my perspective, leaders in their forties and fifties are still YOUNG!  And there’s nothing wrong with that.  We need young leaders.  And we need young leaders who can recognize they are young and perhaps need to quickly age in their understanding of life and the world we live in.  We need young leaders who embark on their own quest for knowledge and understanding rather than relying upon the money trail or our media whose history is marred with plenty of disservice to the public for the sake of selling news.

  

  So, what is this blog all about?  Well, at my age, I am looking around for leaders to follow.  I am looking for someone, into whose eyes and face I can look, and see there, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he or she truly cares about his or her followers, and acts in the best interest of his or her followers.

  I look for folks who know the difference between power and force!  I look for folks who realize that freedom comes with a high price, namely letting go of our urge to control others rather than lead!  It’s a HUGE difference!  So I look for leaders who would never consider encouraging neighbors to snitch or tattletale on each other!  That’s indicative of a leader who is actually just a little kid still.

  I look for folks who consciously or unconsciously live in a mindset that resembles, in even a small way, the lives of people like Mother Teresa.  Whoa!  Yes!  You read correctly!  And why wouldn't we hold our leaders to such a standard?  Her life was all about service,

  I keep looking for a leader who is willing to be at the front of the line in our “battles” against whatever!  For example, I keep hoping to hear about some leader who is willing to go into the hospital wards and the nursing homes to provide some emotional support to those who are dying from whatever disease or illness, as well as support for those who are working there.  Yes, I look for someone who wants to give a very concrete message to their followers that their lives MATTER, maybe even more than their own life.  I keep looking for a leader who understands the science of interpersonal neurobiology and recognizes that sheltering in place and social distancing and preventing loved ones from visiting loved ones in the hospital and nursing homes can have a more serious impact on one’s health than any disease or virus.

  Unfortunately, it is now fashionable for the government to dictate who I can take care of at the risk of catching whatever disease those patients have.  That is MY choice especially when it comes to my loved ones.

   I keep looking for a leader who exercises every part of his or her humanity including his or her soul.  I’m not looking for a leader who aligns with a particular religious system, but someone who can simply acknowledge that there is more to him or her than meets the eye!  Someone who is willing to acknowledge mystery and that we do not know it all.  Someone who can acknowledge that we will never eradicate disease, not matter how many vaccines we have or no matter how many medicines we develop, and who can humbly acknowledge that none of us are that powerful!  And I keep looking for someone who has the humility to admit when he or she has chosen a solution that is ineffective.

  I keep looking for a leader who can encourage his or her followers to live a lifestyle that provides the body with everything it needs to engage in the fight against disease.  I keep looking for a leader whose notions about essential and non essential are based on some other value than big business and political support.  I am looking for a leader who is willing to think rather than to look at what is politically advantageous.   I am looking for a leader who is willing to acknowledge that the leading cause of death is Death!

  I look for leaders who are encouraging their followers to LIVE life rather than run from death.  I’m looking for leaders who really get that!  And practice it!

  I don’t know what would motivate a good leader to terrorize his or her followers into thinking that they are going to die from a virus in contrast to reassuring his or her followers that most people recover from the virus or disease at hand.  I mean the stats are there.  I don’t know what would keep a California political leader from telling his or her followers that according to the CDC, less than, way less than, three thousand people have died from the corona virus in contrast to almost eighty thousand deaths from all other causes during this same time period.  The difference is HUGE!   Very few people have died from the corona virus in California.  Check out the website and the stats for yourself.

  https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/index.htm

  I’m not discounting the almost three thousand who have died, but we sometimes forget just how many people actually die every day from all kinds of causes.

  I don’t know why a good leader would want his followers to lower their immune system by sheltering in place!  I don’t know why a good leader would not want to THINK about the world panic and to do his or her own research to find out what is credible and what falls into the category of we just don’t know.  I don’t know what would keep a good leader from looking objectively at the mathematical model that was used to stir all the panic in the first place!  A mathematical model that has failed in its previous predictions of other outbreaks.

  I’m looking for a leader who  acknowledges to his or her followers that there are plenty of contagious diseases that involve asymptomatic carriers and not just the current corona virus.       

  I am looking for a leader who can publicly acknowledge that much of what we call science is not factual but statistical probabilities which sometimes serve us well and some times not.  I am looking for a leader who acknowledges that scientifically what is living inside a womb is just not a collection of cells and the issues of unwanted pregnancy is, in most cases, an issue of choice from the very beginning.  And just to clarify, I’m not in favor of judging anyone.  I’m just not in favor of creating scenarios that take away our freedom to be responsible and accountable.  For example, I’m not aware of any legislation that stipulates the government should pay people’s DUI fines.

  If stopping work, losing your own small business or even large business really is essential to the health of a state or country, then a good leader will surrender his own salary and live in the same fear and poverty that so many other citizens are having to face at this time.  I keep looking for a leader who is conscious of all the ways that he or she practices a double standard.  One standard for him or herself and another standard for the followers.

  I keep looking for a good leader who gets it that it is never okay for us to begin resembling, even slightly, the very countries that we have traditionally faulted for their totalitarian approach to workers and ordinary people!  I keep looking for leaders who are wanting to instill in their followers a sense of personal responsibility and accountability rather than a reliance upon and a dependency upon government.  

  I am obviously very concerned about the response our government has taken to this crisis.  I am very concerned that so many intelligent people, like doctors, are afraid to come forward and challenge the compnay line.  I am puzzled why Facebook and You Tube are committed to so-called community standards that eliminate intelligent and rational dissent.    

  And I am also looking for Spiritual leaders who are not like the Apostles who ran and hid when Jesus was in trouble!  Where are you?  Why are you afraid to model for your followers what it means to let go and surrender not to the government, but to a Higher Power?  I think it was Jesus who said that those who try to save their lives will lose it!  And as we attempt to save ourselves from the virus, we are losing not only our lives, but EVERYTHING!

  I am looking for Spiritual leaders who refuse to give the names and addresses of those who attend worship services.  Have you stopped to realize the government does not require that of Walmart or of any of the large chain stores?  So why places of worship?  Are spiritual leaders too young for this to ring any bells?   Just as in the large shopping stores, places of worship can also adopt social distancing and masks as well.  

  

    WELL, THANK YOU for reading and please, at least THINK about what I have shared from my 74 plus years of life experience.  I am not asking you to agree with anything I wrote.  I only ask that you examine why you are following the leaders you follow or why you are leading your followers where you are leading them.  BE RESPONSIBLE AND ACCOUNTABLE in your choices especially those that shift our country away from our constitution.

Once again, I am a registered democrat.  

THE LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH

  Have we stopped to ask ourselves, “What is the leading cause of death?”  Just think about it for a second or two or for as long as we want.  Eventually, we will find the answer.  It is really an easy answer.  The leading cause of death is DEATH.

  The media wants us to believe that death is something rare and escapable and something we all need to be afraid of and something that if we quit going to work, stop patronizing businesses, stop attending church services, stay home, stop connecting with our grandchildren and our own parents and our friends–the buzz word is social distancing or worse isolation--somehow we will outwit death and live forever, especially if we practice this way of life for the next 18 months.

  Where would we be if our first responders adopted this belief?  Where would we be if our military adopted this belief?  Where would we be if our hospitals and doctors and nurses adopted this belief system?

  What is kind of ironic is that if the media adopted this belief system and got the heck out of our lives, we would be living our lives quite normally right now.  And yes, just as is happening, some people would die perhaps from the virus!  But more likely, they would die from whatever it is they had before the virus showed up!

  NEWS IS NEVER ACCURATE OR FACTUAL.  News is meant to sell, so the headline is always meant to grab our curiosity and consequently contains some degree of distortion or exaggeration.  Most folks probably do not remember Joe Friday from the Dragnet series.  He was always saying, “Just the facts....”  Well, we can be sure that we will never get just the facts from the news media, which is truly truly sad.  Just remember news is not free.  It is supported by commercial interests which controls the bent of the news.  Can we all just THINK about this?   

  When it comes to death, I finally came to terms with my death some years prior to my open heart surgery and now, with the guidance of many different people, I live on the other side of my death, and since I am no longer fearful of dying or of death catching me, I live my life freely and fully!  Just THINK about this!

  Life is FULL of risks.  All we have to do is look at the way we drive, look at the way we smoke whatever it is we are smoking, look at the way we drink, look at the amount of medications we ingest, look at the amount of hairspray we breathe in each day, look at the cocaine and meth we use, look at the amount of sugar we eat, look at ourselves in the mirror and see how overweight we are, look at the ingredients of the food we eat and contemplate what those ingredients are that we cannot even pronounce.  And if we look at the pesticides and herbacides that are sprayed on our food, we might consider eating only organic!  Can we just simply THINK about this.

  When we give our children medication for huyperactivity, do we have any idea what we are giving them?  Would we give our kids methamphetamines off the street?  But often that is exactly what we are giving them except it is methamphetamine from the drug store!  What sense does that make?  When we give our kids antidepressants, do we have any idea that the side effects are an increase in suicidal ideation?  Really?  Yes, check it out!  Or maybe we already know that from our own use of antidepressants!

  When we tell our doctor that we are depressed and the doctor prescribes psychotropic medication, do we ever take the time to read the risks?  Let’s say we do read the risks and the print out says that a particular side effect occurs in only .01% of the population.  Well, what population are they talking about?  If they are talking about the research group, how do we know that group represents us?  The bottom line is that this .01% does not matter to the pharmaceutical company!  If we are talking about the population of the world, we are talking about 87 million people who may be at risk!  Can we just THINK about this?

  When the doctor prescribes a Statin for us to reduce our cholesterol, do we bother to read about the side effects?  One of the main side effects is the depletion of an essential heart enzyme known as COQ 10!  Why would we take the risk of robbing our heart of an essential enzyme?    

  Can we just THINK about this?  Forget about taking any action.  Just think about this!

  When I had valve replacement surgery five years ago, I was told that if I opted for an artificial valve, I would have to be on blood thinners for the rest of my life.  One of the most popular blood thinners is an ingredient used in rat poison!  When I asked the doctor why I couldn’t just eat foods that naturally thin my blood or take supplements like fish oil or Vitamin E to thin my blood, he told me that he could not trust that I would follow such a regimen consistently!  Wow!  How is it that doctors don’t trust us to take care of ourselves?  Well, if we look in the mirror, maybe we will see the answer!  

  Recently, when I had  eye surgery, I stopped taking my Krill oil a week ahead of surgery as directed.  The doctor still had difficulty stopping my bleeding, the krill oil is that effective in thinning my blood! 

  I am more and more aware of my age.  I don’t feel old, but I do stupid stuff to indicate to myself that I am old.  I run into open cupboard doors and hit my head quite hard.  I stopped climbing onto ladders because I realized that I was soon going to fall off the ladder just because my balance is not the same as it was even five years ago.  I am able to walk six miles four or more times a week and at a really fast clip.  I am very pround of that, but that does not negate the fact that I still do really stupid stuff.  My biggest fear is having an unnecessary brain bleed by doing something like falling off the ladder or walking into an open cupboard door with enough force to cause brusing!  So, taking blood thinning drugs at my age is very very risky.  The cardiologist wnats me to take baby aspirin each day, but I bleed EASILY, so I refuse.  I even stopped taking the Vitamin E for the same reason.  The 1000 mg of Krill oil each day seems to hit the balance.

  I continue to THINK about all of this “stuff” and I invite all of us to THINK about this “stuff.”

  And when we go to the doctor and report that we are depressed or anxious, the doctor does not tell us to take the time to look at our losses and our stressors.  The doctor believes that the medication will eradicate our depression and stress.  And it will for as long as we are on the medication, but in the meantime, we never heal.  We never live a sober life.  We live a medicated life.  And for whatever reason, we are willing to endure all the risk factors with little or no thought to the consequences.

  We have surrendered our ability to THINK and rely upon folks who we assume have our best interest at heart, but we don’t even think and question if that is accurate.

  The commentator, Mark Levine, recently suggested that if the government told us that it was sending a bus into our neighborhood to pick all of us up and take ut to a safe place where we would be free from catching the virus, that many of us would climb on board!  How scary and discouraging is that?

  I know many grand kids who are truly suffering from not having the regular physical contact they are accustomed to having with their grandparents.  There is an actual SCIENCE called Interpersonal Neurobiology that demonstrates the impact of physical contact on our DNA, on our cell growth and development, and on on our immune system!  Check out Daniel Siegel, M. D.

  Can we just simply THINK about this information?

  There is a drug that is used to support folks with malaria and lupus that is being used to treat patients with the corona virus.  The drug use is controversial because of potential risk factors, specifically irregular heart beat which in some cases leads to cardiac arrest.  THIS IS ABSOLUTELY TRUE.  The problem is that the drug seems to be helping some folks and yes there are risk factors which doctors are aware of and are monitoring.

  How is it that we overlook the risk factors in other standard treatments for all kinds of problems?  Obviously, risk factors in other drugs do not stop the use of these drugs.  I mean look at chemotherapy, for crying out loud.  It just about kills a patient!  Look at risk factors in ALL the popular psychotropic drugs?

  Please just THINK about this stuff.

  And who started to promulgate the notion that if one gets the virus, automatically we have to go to the hospital and be put on a ventilator?  We are finally hearing that we might need oxygen, and we would need respiratoy therapy, and we would be best to either lie on our left side or stomach, but that the majority of folks would not require a ventilator which may actually increase the risk of dying!  Why have we not heard this important piece of “news” or information?

  The news does not tell us things like over 1100 people per month in California alone die from lung and respiratory illness that has nothing to do with the virus.  Over 5000 people per month in California alone die from heart disease!  We never hear about any of this?  Why not?  Because for whatever reason, it is not scary enough!

  JUST THINK ABOUT THIS STUFF!

  By the way, who is Bill Gates?  What is the payoff for him to have our country shut down till there is a cure for corona virus?  Please just think about it!  As altruistic as Bill may be, I just have to wonder why he would opt for such an annihilation of our society!  

  Do you know that fifty percent of the folks who have the virus are asymptomatic?  Do you know that 80 percent of the folks who become ill from the virus actually recover and go on to live normal and healthy lives?

  Do you know that corona viruses have been around for a very LONG time?  It is not some new rare virus that we have no experience with.  Some folks seem upset that China has shared nothing with us about their research on the corona virus, but please do not forget, there are researchers around the world who study these viruses ALL the time and I would be willing to bet that there is plenty of information available to us to find solutions.

  We often hear talk about a cure for the virus.  I think cure is somewhat misleading in that I don’t think we can cure a virus.  We can find ways for the body to fight the virus successfully, and we may find cures for the illnesses that develop because of the virus getting into our body, but the virus itself will probably hang out for some period of time till it either mutates or just disappears the way the SARS virus disappeared.

  Againk please just THINK about what we already know.  

  What is the investment of the democratic political community in portraying the virus as fatal for all and the last thing anyone wants to catch?  What is that about?  Really and truly?

  What is the shameful story of Karen Whitsett all about?  The problem with both sides of the political aisle is that no one knows what it is to work together.  We are so intent on our side being right, being the winner, being the best, we are so intent on the other side looking like losers and worse, evil, that we have abandoned all together EVERYTHING that is available to us as people on how successsfully to work together as a team!  How sad that our politicians are so uneducated and so self absorbed, and I’m referring to BOTH sides!

  I am a registered democrat, but I no longer idenify with ANY political party.  If the democrates want to get rid of President Trump, then offer a candidate that can fill the shoes of the office.  Joe Biden, I am sorry to say, is NOT the person.  By the way, when did you see him last?  If he is too vulnerable to come out into the public view, then he is NOT the person for the job.  We need a president who is willing to risk his life for the office!  Think about it!

  My biggest objection to Joe Biden is he went to Iraq after their elections and told Iraq leaders that we would not support the person elected who was a Shia but who was committed to work with the Sunis.   Biden told the Iraq government that we would only support Malaki remaining in office.   Malaki then proceeded to assassinate all the Suni leaders!  

  The way we get a new president into the Whitehouse is through elections.  Are the democrats afraid of elections?  What is the deal?  I would like to suggest that we pass a law that says that during any pandemic, politicians have to go home and receive no pay!  And I am sure, we would see very quick legislation to contain the pandemic without shutting down the country.  AND what about all the so-called essential businesses that continue to operate?  They are each and all prime breeding grounds for the virus, yet we continue to go to these potentially virus infested stores.  JUST THINK ABOUT IT!  If we are not getting the drift here, perhaps the virus is not as smart as we deem it to be!  Or not as devastating as the media wants us to think.  We can at least consider reopening our businesses, our livelihoods while simultaneously continuing to practice smart disease controls.  The Banks are doing it!  The large chain stores are doing it!  The gas stations are doing it!  Delivery services are doing it.  Restaurants and fast food operations are doing it!  And apparently, quite successfully!  JUST THINK ABOUT THIS STUFF!

  

  We all know there is really NO safe place to escape the virus!  Yet we have been willing to go along with this complete shutdown of our country and our economy which has left many of us really hurting financially.  And yet we climb on board to support the shutdown for an indefinite period of time again to the detriment of our jobs, our income, the countryu’s economy, and to the detriment of all the people in our lives.  

  And we know there is absolutely no safe place to escape death.  So let’s get a grip and come to terms with our own death and then begin to live on the other side of death.  We can do that right here, on earth, today, right now, at this very moment.   Please THINK about it!

  I SO APPRECIATE YOU TAKING THE TIME TO READ.  OUR COUNTRY AND OUR FIGHT FOR OUR FREEDOM DOES NOT LOOK LIKE WHAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING LATELY.  JUST THINK ABOUT IT!

RETHINKING

We are bombarded daily

With news

That has nothing new in it at all.

We buy and eat line after line

Of this news, intended not to inspire us

But to in form us into conformity,

A conformity of fear!

We haven’t questioned the health benefits

Of isolation, for example,

Even though our immune system thrives,

THRIVES on touch and contact!

We are now wearing our masks visibly,

Perhaps a symbol of the masks we wear

Every day to hide from ourselves and others!

Why in the world do we hide from ourselves?

We allow the media to feed us

Sensationalized statistics with no context.

We don’t even realize

That an astronomical number of the folks

Who walk alongside of us

Each and every day

Pass on, often without our even knowing.

We gasp as we read the obituary or someone tells us

“Hey, did you hear.....?”

In California alone,

Over 1100 citizens die EACH MONTH

From respiratory illness regardless of the reigning virus!

That’s over 12,000 a year.

That’s not to mention the over 5,000

Who die each month from heart disease.

These statistics may or may not be true,

BUT, they are from the CDC!

The L. A. Times reported this morning

That the death toll

From the virus (since January) in California

Has soared to over 300.

How is that soaring?

Well, it is soaring to scare us

And to sell news

Which is no news at all!

We’ve been dealing with very serious diseases

From the beginning of time!

What about ALL the thousands of people,

People like us,

Who have recovered and have actual antibodies

For the corona virus?

Wow!  So a healthy immune system does work!

Is the 104 year old veteran who survived the virus

Just a fluke?

Or is he just a good soldier

Regardless of what life he is living

Or what battle he enlists to fight?

Do any of us stop and contemplate

That this finite time span

From our birth to death

Is a given for each and every one of us?

We are born to live

And yes, born to die!

We can certainly fear this time span

Or else,

We can become aware that this time span

Does not define our existence!

In fact,

Many Christians believe in the resurrection

At least we did

Til we subscribed to the L. A. Times

Or tuned into CNN

Or whatever the news source of our choosing.

CHOOSING!

An important word.

We are choosing to follow all the mandates

Hook line and sinker,

Even to the point of allowing our loved ones

To  die alone in isolation,

Much like Jesus on the cross!

What would happen if everyone boycotted the news

Which, remember, is no news at all.

Watching or subscribing to the news

Is simply subscribing to being scared to death,

Ironically, the very thing we all fear!

There is no grace in our news,

Nor life.

How deeply have we buried our heads and hearts?

We have walked away from our places of worship

Willingly and freely.

We have locked ourselves up in our homes

Willingly and freely.

We have abandoned people we love

Willingly and freely.

No shots fired, no takeover!

It was easy for whatever that “force” is.

I hold in my imagination a genuine rethinking of

What we have so freely given into

With very little questioning

And an abundance of innacurate information,

And an abundance of accurate but sensationalized information.

I thank God we are, even as I write this,

Rethinking and replanning

So we never surrender so freely again.

By the way,

I am not against taking precautions.

I appreciate having my open heart surgery

In as sterile an environment

As they were able to create!

Lucky me, I did not get infected by

Whatever they could not kill!

And I deeply appreciate ALL those

Who continue to provide us food,

Supplies, and transportation.

I appreciate our fire and law enforcement folks

Who are just plain out there,

Fear or no fear.

I appreciate the medical personnel

Who have continued to provide services

Both to those infected with the virus

And those who need medical services.

And every time we have a chance,

Be sure to personally THANK these folks.

They have bigger balls and bigger hearts

than most of us!

There’s a line from A Course In Miracles

That goes something like this:

“If I really grasped who is walking alongside of me,

I would have no fear.”

And for those of us who rely only on Scripture,

Check out Luke 17:33!

“Those who try to save their lives will lose it

And those who lose their life will preserve it.”

AND

I don’t have to be right about any of this.

I simply want to share some of my thoughts!