As I looked in the mirror, I saw myself, and my father looking back at me. We had a short conversation.
I said, “I’m getting old dad.” In a tired voice.
In a somber tone he told me, “I know son. Soon you’ll die too.”
“I don’t want to die dad.”
He said, “It isn’t being dead that hurts, it is the dying.”
Our eyes became teared as we remembered his death.
“I watched you dying. I miss you. I’m so tired. I don’t have anything left to give.” My voice trailed off.
“Be strong son. You still have people who count on you.”
“I was not ready for you to leave.”
“You were, and you know it. My body was worn out long before I died. I held on as long as I could.”
“I know dad. You were always so strong. I hope I can do what is required of me, and make you proud.”
“I’ve always been proud of you. You’ll do what is needed.”
“I see the same decay in my vitality that I watched you succumb to.”
“Death comes for us all son. Don’t be afraid. Look straight ahead. Look into it. Don’t swerve to the left or the right, but walk on through it. We are here waiting.”
As a Christian, we are to love our neighbors, and the world loves to remind us that we are murdering grandma if we don’t wear a mask. They love to blast us on social media with comments like, “You’re not loving your neighbor! You’re a murderer! You are killing your grandma!” Let’s look at this a bit more closely. What is the actual mortality rate? Here is a chart from Johns Hopkins;
According to Johns Hopkins in the United States per 100,000 people 49.8 people die. So if you divide 49.8 by 100,000 you get a .0498% mortality rate. If you subtract that from 100% you get 99.95% That is the percentage of people who are surviving the virus. Now that we’ve established a factual rate, and seen that it is not as dire as the media has portrayed it, let’s deal with the accusation of not loving our neighbors.
How is it loving to the 99.95% of my neighbors to lock them up at home, shut down their businesses, (some never to reopen) keep children from being in school, stop people from visiting loved ones in hospitals, cancel Church services, cancel graduations, and funerals, but leave casinos, pot stores, liquor stores, big box stores, online stores, golf courses, et cetera open? Not to mention, allowing riots in the streets disguised by the media as, “peaceful protests.” This is madness.
It is not loving at all! That is my answer. It is not loving my neighbor to harm the majority in this way. It is not loving to the minority to draw a circle around the less than one percent, and tell them, “We’re doing this for you!” Masks aren’t even effective. They are like a pacifier for a baby. It feels good, and takes your mind off the fact that you are still hungry, but at some point the truth of hunger will invade, and the pacifier will not be enough. I hope the truth is now invading, and we will come to our senses. We are harming our neighbors with these liberty crushing, draconian measures.
If we love our neighbors, we can keep the vulnerable, and sick, quarantined, while we allow the rest of our neighbors to carry on. I’ve witnessed it personally at work. Half the people who have the virus don’t suffer any symptoms. The majority of the other half have mostly mild, to moderate symptoms. I was one of the smaller minority who suffered more severe symptoms. The even smaller minority, which we’ve already stated is .0498% will die.
Remember, God is sovereign over everything, even our deaths. Since we are all sinners, we will all die. There is a 100% mortality rate among sinners, and 100% of us, are sinners. Do the math. It is simple. We can die in Christ, or outside of Christ. God is true good. Since He decides when you’ll die, and of what, it is good that it happens as He has determined. To doubt that, is to put yourself on God’s throne. That is neither wise, nor righteous. God is God, not you. Repent of your sins, trust solely in the work of Christ to justify you, and live for your Lord’s glory. Don’t cower in fear of your death. That is not living. It is not liberty in Christ either.
Grandma wouldn’t want you to hurt everyone for her, if she is a Christian. Grandma, and Grandpa (I speak from experience as a Grandpa) would not want to miss out on you, and your life, because they might die. We’ve lived a life, and know what it is to sacrifice for our children, and we are o.k. with that. As always, glorify God, love your neighbor, but please be thoughtful, reasonable, wise, and gentle.
I started feeling hot the evening of July 11th. I went to bed, and felt better the next day, just a bit tired. The same thing happened on the 12th. On the 13th I worked all day, and an hour before the end of my shift, I came down with a full on fever, and a cough. The next morning when I woke up, I was sick. I went to the local clinic, and got a test done. I called in to work. The next day, the clinic called. They told me I tested positive. I didn’t need the test to tell me that. I was getting really sick.
My fever was lingering around 100 degrees, and did not let up until around the 22nd. Then the fever was just in the mornings, and evenings. The cough persisted. I also developed digestive difficulties. I had pain in my stomach, and didn’t want to eat. I lost my senses of smell, and taste completely. I was breathing, but not getting any oxygen out of it. My toes, and fingers were turning blue by 21st. I had to go to the emergency room. They gave me an I.V. with some anti-inflammatory medication. They did a chest x-ray, and tested my blood. My blood sugar was way out of control. I’m a type 2 diabetic. They were going to admit me, but I perked up enough after the I.V. and medication. Tylenol was extremely helpful the next couple of days reducing the pain in my lungs. I didn’t have congestion in them, but they hurt, and weren’t working right.
The next few nights I continued to sleep in my recliner because I couldn’t breath when I laid flat on my back. I use a bi-pap machine because of severe sleep apnea. I drank copious amounts of water throughout the sickness, and did breathing exercises my wife, and the nurse recommended. The breathing exercises helped a lot. I had to force myself to eat. I had lost close to 15 pounds in a short time, and was very weak.
Finally by the 28th, my symptoms were gone, except for a morning cough. I was told that the cough would continue for weeks after. I still have a bit of a cough. I am still trying to get my strength back. I tried to do some chores, and got winded pretty quick. I got a doctor’s clearance to go back to work, but they are requiring that I stay home 14 days after the release.
In the dormitory that I work in 98 of the 98 inmates tested positive. They were all required to wear masks. I was also required to wear a mask. The masks did not stop them from passing the virus on to each other. They did not stop infected people from infecting those who didn’t have it, and it didn’t protect them either. I caught it from the inmates while wearing a mask. I’m certain the way people are getting it is by touching contaminated surfaces. I don’t believe masks help.
Half of the inmates in my unit had no symptoms. Some of those inmates were in their 70’s. Out of the other half, most were mildly ill. They told me that they just felt tired for a few days, or had a tickle in their throats. Out of that group, there were about 7 that actually felt really sick. None of them were as bad as I ended up being.
After having the dreaded Chinese virus, I would recommend that we do away with masks, put everyone back to work, open the schools, get rid of social distancing, and go back to normal. The only thing I would do is let the vulnerable people quarantine at home. Shutting everything down is wrong. I hope this helps.
Snyder's Soapbox 