It will be safe to sing together “as we have always done it” when the medical establishment has an approved and recommended treatment plan in place for the different risk segments of the population. If we as a population have confidence that we can and will be be treated, given a fighting chance, we can move into a new normal. Important points. <ASSUMPTIONS>
My choir rehearsals will resume and my congregations will be empowered and enabled to sing. Outside. Inside. All around. When... the medical establishment has an approved and recommended treatment plan in place for the different risk segments of the population. My final thoughts for today's Thursday Singing thinking are:
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord and sing and make a joyful noise... in every way, every day, as opportunities arise. We will not live in fear into the future. We will not lead in fear of the future. Things have changed indeed. We stand and sing together to be counted among the faithful. Be strong in the Lord and be of good courage.
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Lord Northam ... week ago. Would not consider a regionalized strategy assisting western and southern VA... he said that politics would divide his beloved commonwealth and it was not safe.
-->> Today(now) - Will allow NOVA to be considered separately from the rest of the state. Here is hoping ALL of my NOVA friends come to SWVA to visit, shop, and seek entertainment. True southerners welcome you. Bless your hearts. When we in SWVA speak, he disregards utterly. When NOVA speaks(Dems) — he steps up and salutes, changing direction. His floor is only hard if you disagree. This flip flop behavior is so typical of Dems and it IS DEPLORABLE. Politics of regions only matter to those in charge... Dems must be ejected for western and southern va to ever have a chance at prospering. Lord Northam is concerned about his control over regions, not the citizen’ safety or “unity” - “In panic, we want to push the stick away from the spin, wrestle the plane out of it, but the trick is, as in everything, to go with the turning willingly, rather than fight it, give in, go with it, and that way come out of your tailspin whole.” -Edward Field, “Tailspin" I’m excited to watch Americans learn and embrace that their states are unique and empowered and special. I’m proud to be a Virginian. I’m not like other people. My state is not NY or CA or DC and I reject that as a premise. My representatives in state and federal govt speak for me. I’m ashamed of many of them. I respect and will campaign for those I agree with. That is how the system works and it does work. Also, we can do better.
I don’t agree with Lord Northam our exalted high Governor but I respect his position as our leader. We can and must govern ourselves within the Republic. How we make decisions is in crisis. My version of the US culture has become dependent on the national media and its anecdotal, limited context, ratings driven sensationalism. We hear about isolated instances of tragedies and emotional, gut wrenching stories and we the people begin to extrapolate and apply those outliers to the entire population, to our local world. This WRONG.
One size does not fit all. It never has. It never will. The divisions and natural biases of our world views is bubbling up and exploding. The guidance and governance for large populations is radically different from families and households and neighborhoods in a free country. We as Americans are allied to do things differently, succeeding and failing, even moving from region to region when necessary to find better decisions makers and conditions for living. We are connected but separate. Reopening America is a state by state, locality by locality decision at this point. We will see good stories, and we will see tragic examples of outliers. When we gravitate towards the Covid19 anecdotal deaths and hot spot stories, and the appropriate grief we are missing that overall, the risk and mortality rates are low. When we ignore the inconvenient truths that millions are in devastating home situations now because of our collective shutdown choices. Jobs gone. Lives in chaos. Families struggling with depression, hunger, and the basics of life. When we ignore the overwhelming evidence that our medical system is safe and instead looks to politicians and bureaucrats and MEDIA for medical and health guidance we FAIL . Our doctors and nurses are amazing, and our system is built on individual, local responsibility, and day to day decisions. Doctors get their expertise from their expert organizations. They are trained to discern between anecdotal data and true guiding medical science. When we ignore the experts in front of us for the personas and stories on the TV and internet we fail. Good decisions are hard. One size does not fit all. Americans must stand and be counted. We must succeed and fail. We can help one another by connecting to those around us. Doctors. Pastors. Teachers. Farmers. Neighbors. Our individual experience is not automatically relevant to the world. It IS relevant to US. Here. And Now. My family and several close friends survived the RONA. The reality is we also survived driving, numerous other illnesses, some acute emergencies and other chronic long term life threatening conditions all in the past year. That list is long, just like yours. We are NOT afraid. Living life is a daily choice. Choosing to isolate away from “the world” pretending that all or most risk can be managed is one way. Another, is to accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior, make good decisions for you and your family, and live into every day prioritizing family and friends and neighbors in Love and Service in spite of the risks and laws imposed by civil and social authorities. I say that every day is an opportunity. The world turns regardless of what we do. Finding the balance in choices and freedom and associated accountability with consequence is the ever spinning wheel of control. We aren’t in control of much but we do have free will. We choose to be together, to smile, to eat, and to serve. Be. Love. Serve. Repeat. This is the way. I take this time to celebrate mothers everywhere.
Happy Mother’s Day to my mother Brenda. Happy Mother’s Day to my wife, Tracee. Happy Mother’s Day to my sisters. Lisa, Heather, Tara and Heidi! Happy Mother’s Day to all of the mothers that I know. Happy Mother’s Day to all of the mothers that I don’t know. O happy day today and every day in the future. May they be filled with faith, hope, and love. Especially Love!! DEATH cannot be avoided.. it can only be managed. I CHOOSE LIFE and LIVING into a hopeful future, over this media driven panic that is overwhelming society right now. And THAT, is all I have to say about that… FOR NOW. I did the math in the PDF below... and I'm using that logic for me and my family going forward. Roughly.. 99.9% chance of surviving right now... and maybe even higher depending... on DATA. Just imagine.. THIS chance is without modern medicine, herd immunity, mitigation.. etc.. If you don't like my numbers.. do your own. STAND UP AMERICANS.. and think/act for yourself. This dependency model on politicians and media, is pathetic and toxic to life.
We all wear masks these days. Online and in person we mumble, and shout and hide our fear with outrage. We condemn and judge one another to show how right we are. The mask does virtually nothing to protect others. It is for us. It makes us feel safe in our hiding and in our isolation.
Removing the mask is liberating. We freely admit that we are not in control of the world as we breathe deeply, showing our smiles, frustrations and fears to all. God sees through the mask and loves us regardless. We must live in the world that He makes, without the mask. The value of being honest and authentic online exceeds the negative consequences. Support comes from principled actions and consistency not moderation and pleasing everyone. Perhaps this is the message of our age. We must be who we are. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly and let the people decide who receives power. We see the results of appeasement and moderation via the party establishment over the last decades. This is all we know for certain. What has been is what has been. Results matter. Grey... Black... White... shades more severe than we imagine.
This is why Trump and Sanders have such strong support. We live in severe times. I'm fairly certain that the major media outlets would consider me to be an "extremist" because I don't share their liberal views on liberty, firearms, or appropriate government involvement in daily lives. Even more because I write and share my opinions and suggestions freely with the attitude that my thoughts are valid, and my platform as a connector, and message as a leader is important. I'm not a threat to them, but I would like to be. I AM REAL and EDUCATED and PASSIONATE and REASONABLE. To be honest, some of you probably already consider me to be overly concerned, and too worked up as I've been really active in past month due to stress and quarantine and my family Rona reality.
Maybe, but if I'm right, and I usually am about these things, then we are in for a really rough time in coming months... and the ONLY thing that will sustain us will be local communities, family, and faith... The government and the central planners are NOT coming to save you... even in the red states. I'm sure that the Trump haters have a long list of what they despise... This list made the rounds on FB and I'm reposting here... because it seems legit to me... and it is impressive. Good job Mr President. Now keep up the work, and double down.. getting even more done as we move ahead. Liberty, Federalism... empower the people, and keep us safe. Let the states fight among themselves up to a point. Lets keep this list rolling on..
all of this was BEFORE COVID19... What have PRESIDENT TRUMP and his cabinet accomplished?
The real danger affecting us all right now is fear. Not just any old garden variety fear, but the fear of our fellow man. We are dangerously close to accepting the lie that our fellow man will kill us with contact and regular “life”. Yes, the covid19 virus is dangerous, but it is not as dangerous to the mass majority of our population as we are being told. The fear narrative is the real danger. This is not the first pandemic in our world, and it is not likely to be that last. Very little has changed, except our fear response. By my calculations, the recovery/survival rate on Covid is something like 99.85%… seriously. Our world has been turned upside down by something that will likely kill one person in a thousand. This death rate is not new. What is new, is this idea that we must avoid contact with our family, our neighbors, and our friends and rely solely on the internet, the media, and the government to keep us connected and safe. THIS IS INSANITY. I WILL NOT COMPLY! Our society flattened the curve here in the US and “saved” the medical system?! What we have done is take a true acute medical crisis, and turn it into a global, catastrophic humanitarian crisis. Disconnecting from one another locally, and trusting some magical central planning authority is the hallmark of authoritarianism and tyrannical dark times throughout history.We know the death rate on these behaviors…. And the recovery rate is NOT 99.9%. Losing connection with our loved ones and neighbors KILLS. Unemployment and dependency KILLS. No one is coming to save you. The media and the governing authorities are using this programmatic fear narrative to gain and maintain control. The roots may be malevolent or incompetent. It does not matter in the end as the result is the same. People will die. The solution is to stand up for yourself, educate yourself, connect with your family, and accept that you were never in control. Go out and live your life as free citizens. Make choices, connect to those that matter, and own the consequences. Our world is going about its business as usual… The people are living and dying. Each of us chooses how we live or die. For this Virginian, Give me liberty or give me death has taken on a whole new meaning when it is applied to my ability to connect physically with my fellow humans. There are a lot of people worried about censorship on FB and YouTube. I’m one of them. Also: consider that Google is the real information broker. They “censor” and promote content? Of course they do. And most would never even know it. HOW exactly will you get info if the search engines went “offline”. Consider your data consumption and curating plans carefully. Things could change in the blink of an eye. Preparation is best.
The monopoly on information access and connectivity is a major danger in a world in crisis. Our cultural reboot is underway. The stress and anxiety associated with a full reboot is real. So many questions and risks are now a reality. It is done hang on for the ride.
Will the computer come back on? What about the power supply? This server hasn’t ever been restarted before. Will the components talk to one another and can the internal bus support the load? how about the processor, will it overheat under the demand? Will the network connections come back up and are they secure and in sync for the data exchanges required. Data... is the new data warehouse design going to be flexible as we move ahead. What are the priorities for processing and who is managing the instructions? I hope the operating systems is stable, because only then can the apps start to work and add value again. watch the event log and task manager to see what is going on. Good luck America. #GodHasGotThis but it is still scary and a lot of work for the essential processors in the core. Many of my liberal friends seem to expect me to be sorry or feel bad that I’m a conservative libertarian minded patriot. I don’t feel that way at all about them. My views allow for theirs. This is most interesting when people who KNOW me pass judgement on me rather than my ideas. Demagoguery is destructive and devastating. Debate and dialogue are the cure. Decisions require voting rather than demeaning morality judgements. Respect given is respect received and vice versa.
If I have made anyone feel diminished I apologize. That is never my intent. My opinions and actions are mine. I like it when we agree but it is not required for friendship and love. Free speech is messy but freedom Is like that. Stand up for what you believe. Be. Love. Serve. Repeat. Relationships are what matter. Period. ReopenVA means that organizations and establishments are ALLOWED to open. we can and will act responsibly. Every business and church has an incentive to be safe and protect its consumers and congregation. Free people can do the same. If they choose to remain closed, or if people choose to stay home... This is the way!!!
Be smart. Be safe. If you are at risk stay home. If your business is not operating safely, do not open. #OneSizeDoesNOTFitAll When you chose to live in a densely populated city you chose dependency on the system of infrastructure to sustain you.
when you chose to live in a suburb you chose to live close to others in homes virtually identical to yours. When you chose to live in a rural community you chose a path of accountability and a do it yourself first approach. When you chose to go to college you chose education as your path. When you chose to go to work as an apprentice or in a trade school you chose to produce and earn as you learn. When you chose to take a particular job you chose a path to dignity and protection for yourself and your family. When you chose a life partner you chose to be joined and not alone in all future choices. When you chose to have sex outside of marriage you chose accountability for the life of a child. When you chose to accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior you chose eternal life. Each choice and decision has a consequence. Some choose to pursue choices and freedom, others choose the simpler path of doing as they are told. This is how our lives work. The downstream outcomes arise from so many key choices. Most, if not all, successful outcomes are a consequence of time, and attitude and a series of good decisions. The chain holds the weight of it all. Happiness flows from a personal acceptance who you are and who you want to be. When you choose to condemn another’s choices your own path is altered. My choices are not yours. I am not you. Free will doesn’t mean free from consequences of your will. it is hard enough to carry the load of your own chain. Choosing to carry and control another’s chain is deadly and toxic. Making new laws and rules is a useless activity without the ability to enforce and review the ones already in place. Anyone willing to break the current law will not comply with the new laws. Control is imposed and managed with force: violence, economy, and livelihood. Privileges and rights are related but not the same. Wake up America. If you don’t take control of your life, someone else will.
Right now our health system is on the front lines. Coming very soon, the economic devastation wrought by our Covid19 response will begin to escalate. Abuse, hunger, depression will all flow freely. The government is not best positioned to fight this war. The local church can and will step into the spotlight. We can help one another. We will help one another. We must set the example beyond words with actions and resources. The LOCAL church has always been on the front lines. It will remain so. Get in the fight and make a difference. You have skills and resources. Use them where you are, how you are. Be. Love. Serve. Repeat. Food, Fellowship, Faith, Friendship... are the FRONT LINES to fight the epidemic of fear, depression, violence, and poverty now and in the near future. We as a society have chosen these problems over the acute fear of Covid19... That decision is behind us, right or wrong. There are new battle lines in front of us. My question is, how will we respond in my church? How will your church respond? Soldiers fight... Step up! Stand and be counted. Christians should not be fearful and must be on the front lines. Onward Christian soldiers.... |
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