COVID-19: Keeping It in Perspective, As Much As Possible

UPDATE 10/31/20, 7:50 PM: I just checked the three video links below and found (not surprisingly) that YT had deleted them. Sorry.

UPDATE 4/9/20, 12:24 AM: I added links to 2 additional videos by qualified persons. You'll find them at the end of this post.

Are you sick and tired of your new life under COVID-19 restrictions? 

If your life has changed at all because of the new rules, I’m pretty sure you are.

I’ve had the feeling for some time that what we’re doing just isn’t right - and not just because it’s different and because I don’t care for it. There’s this other feeling deep down inside that I’ve found hard to explain. Part of the problem is that I don’t have enough knowledge about all that’s going on.

The Simplest Alternative to Going to Church

"These are the times that try men's souls."

I'm sure you've heard that quotation before, but I bet you don't know who wrote it. (Don't Google it now; I'll tell you later.)

I'll give you a hint: It was written just before Christmas in December of 1776.

The reason men's souls were being tried back then isn't the same as the reason that is trying many people's souls today, but much soul-trying is happening and not in our country alone.

One of the consequences of COVID-19, which is the ultimate source of the soul-trying, is that we can no longer meet in our churches for worship services.

You Want to Legalize What?

First, I apologize for another click-baity headline. Once I thought of it though, I just couldn’t get it out of my head. (I have the feeling that others have used it - probably successfully - before me.)

Later this year (2020), you’re going to get the opportunity to vote for the next President of the United States. Now, I know our votes don’t actually determine who the President will be - that’s left to the Electoral College - but somehow it still feels important.

You’ll have a choice from several candidates - Republican, Democratic, Libertarian, and others. In all but the 2016 election, I voted for the candidate from the same party. Since 2016, I’ve become more educated about political parties. Maybe you have too.

The Stewardship of Your Baptism

The stewardship of your baptism. Now there's a topic you probably didn't expect to see here. It's one that only applies to you if you have been baptized. If you haven't (or aren't sure if you have) been, you might still find some good in reading what follows. If it prompts you to get baptized, so much the better.

What follows is the transcript (mine) of a sermon that was preached at Faith Lutheran in Sussex, Wisconsin, during Advent (2019). It is short (for a sermon) and to the point and is the best sermon I've ever heard on the topic. (I told the preacher so afterwards.)

Here it is.

Visit Lookout Mountain, If You're So...Inclined

Looking up from the bottom

There's a place in Chattanooga, Tennessee, called Lookout Mountain. Actually, the whole of the mountain crosses the border into Georgia, but the part I'm dealing with here is north of the border.

Google tells me that the highest point of the mountain is 2388 feet above sea level. From the base of the mountain at street level to the top is a distance of about 1532 feet. At least, I assume that's what it means by "prominence".

If you lived in this area before about 1895, getting from the bottom to the top was probably quite a chore. But for those of us living in post-1895 times, there's been a nifty method for getting up and down the mountain. It's called the Lookout Mountain Incline Railway.

Read the Rules (And Play by Them)

Most people like to play games. If not board games or card games, then they like to play some kind of sport. Or they may like all three or some combination thereof. In any case, most people like to play these things that have rules attached to them.

A game isn’t really a game without rules. Some people have tried to design games without rules. Can you even think of one such “game”? Probably not. There’s a reason for that. They’re not “games” that are very popular, largely due to their lack of rules.