Best thing I’ve heard from a pulpit in a while. I’ve added my take of course...

2019- year the media and “culture” said to cancel the negative people. Don’t do anything with them. Those realists are just negative Nellies. Everything will be fine as soon as the negative voices are gone.

2020- the year where we were all encouraged to shout down the positive hopeful people because the world was ending and system is deplorable. Their support for standing up and singing loud and proud is a radical position. Hunker down and look out for yourself above all. Socializing is unsafe. If you want to see and be with people you are killing them. Be fearful.

2021- this year we are not supposed to ANYTHING with ANYONE because... there is just too much risk. Be alone. Wait for permission. Someday when it is safe the powers in the know will tell you.

I never bought into any of it. I’m sorry for the months in 2020 where I was so flipping afraid. It will not happen again from me. Be. Love. Serve. Repeat. Is not a passive sit back and watch thing done on a video stream or TV. Living is loving and loving is living. Face to face. Hand to hand. Heart to heart.

If you are out there thinking that Covid is not that dangerous you need to educate yourself.
If you are out there thinking that the Federal, State and Local government’s responses to Covid are not insidious AND dangerous, you SERIOUSLY need to educate yourself.

Different problems... related but each is a tragedy and a catastrophe in its own right. The impact of the governing authorities’ failures is just beginning to be noticed. Buckle up because 2021+ is gonna be INSANE.

The Bill of No Rights
The following was written by State Representative Mitchell Kaye from GA
We, the sensible people of the United States, in an attempt to help everyone get along, restore some semblance of justice, avoid any more riots, keep our nation safe, promote positive behavior, and secure the blessings of debt free liberty to ourselves and our great-great-great-grandchildren, hereby try one more time to ordain and establish some common sense guidelines for the terminally whiny, guilt ridden, delusional, and other liberal bedwetters. We hold these truths to be self-evident: that a whole lot of people are confused by the Bill of Rights and are so dim that they require a Bill of No Rights .
ARTICLE I: You do not have the right to a new car, big screen TV or any other form of wealth. More power to you if you can legally acquire them, but no one is guaranteeing anything.

ARTICLE II: You do not have the right to never be offended. This country is based on freedom, and that means freedom for everyone - not just you! You may leave the room (ed.: or this page), turn the channel, express a different opinion, etc., but the world is full of idiots, and probably always will be.

ARTICLE III: You do not have the right to be free from harm. If you stick a screwdriver in your eye, learn to be more careful, do not expect the tool manufacturer to make you and all your relatives independently wealthy.

ARTICLE IV: You do not have the right to free food and housing. Americans are the most charitable people to be found, and will gladly help anyone in need, but we are quickly growing weary of subsidizing generation after generation of professional couch potatoes who achieve nothing more than the creation of another generation of professional couch potatoes.

ARTICLE V: You do not have the right to free health care. That would be nice, but from the looks of public housing, we're just not interested in public health care.

ARTICLE VI: You do not have the right to physically harm other people. If you kidnap, rape, intentionally maim, or kill someone, don't be surprised if the rest of us want to see you fry in the electric chair.

ARTICLE VII: You do not have the right to the possessions of others. If you rob, cheat or coerce away the goods or services of other citizens, don't be surprised if the rest of us get together and lock you away in a place where you still won't have the right to a big screen color TV or a life of leisure.

ARTICLE VIII: You don't have the right to demand that our children risk their lives in foreign wars to soothe your aching conscience. We hate oppressive governments and won't lift a finger to stop you from going to fight if you'd like. However, we do not enjoy parenting the entire world and do not want to spend so much of our time battling each and every little tyrant with a military uniform and a funny hat.

ARTICLE IX: You don't have the right to a job. All of us sure want all of you to have one, and will gladly help you along in hard times, but we expect you to take advantage of the opportunities of education and vocational training laid before you to make yourself useful.

ARTICLE X: You do not have the right to happiness. Being an American means that you have the right to pursue happiness - which by the way, is a lot easier if you are unencumbered by an overabundance of idiotic laws created by those of you who were confused by the Bill of Rights.

?? The Pandemic will be over when... (insert success criteria here)

??? The State of Emergency IN VA will be lifted when?(insert success criteria here)

???? The "emergency powers" granted to the supreme chancellor to restrict livelihoods, define essential business, tell us all how to best do what is for the greater good will be restored to the people when...
(enquiring minds want to know)  the decision teams know the answers, and they don't want to disclose their criteria for fear of being wrong, as they have been, again, and again, and again... Having the power to control makes everything easier, but it is NOT liberty, and it is barely legal.. if at all...  

What will life for a citizen of the United States, of Virginia, look like when the success criteria are met? the new normal...  THAT IS THE REAL QUESTION that leaders are avoiding like the plague.. literally.  
If the answer is back to normal, then they would already be answering... Instead.. they are ducking and delaying... because their motives have morphed from safety for the greater good, to opportunity to control and "profit" from the crisis...  Spreading fear is good for the business of government and it perpetuates dependency and disintermediates churches, family structures, and all of those freedom loving groups... 
​
WHEN WILL THINGS BE BACK TO NORMAL...? If the answer is when it is safe, then the real answer is never.. because living is not safe. It is living(right to choose risk, and act accordingly), and the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is granted to the individual...not to be restricted by the government, as designated and protected by the Constitution of the United States of America. ​

I sincerely hope that I am wrong.  If I am wrong, I will take a full mea culpa lap.   I do not believe I am wrong.  The outcomes now are mired in a toxic brew of incompetence and malevolent intent... and we the people are losing over and over at every step.  THAT is a system problem.. but it is rooted in principals, not principles...  

In a free country, the individual gets to decide.  Decisions must be made based on logic, reasoned analysis, input from credible experts, along with an element of faith in one's own judgement and experience.  

If the leaders are making all of the decisions, you are not free.  When a lot of people agree on something, THAT is when free men should tread with caution. One size never fits all. If everyone agrees, it is likely that something is awry. 

All good equations require balance.  Success requires balance.  Life requires RISK, period. 

If you have had Covid19 and recovered you are a central piece in solution.  Your immune system is the answer.  Your body had fought and won the battle.  You are not a carrier, and you will not be a carrier.  You are vaccinated.  
The solution for this crisis is the same as for every pandemic crisis before.  Society must stop the transmission of the disease from person to person.  Every immune individual is a barrier.  We must build enough immunity to stop the spread.  This is math.  This principle is actual science.  That is what the vaccines will do.  That is what the “distancing” guidelines do.  This is what masking says it does.  
The reality is that if you have been “vaccinated”.. either by surviving the disease, or by taking a vaccine, there is no longer any reasonable reason for you to continue to distance, or to mask.  Basic LOGIC dictates this.   The mob screams.. “but you must set an example”… My response is that as an immune survivor, I am an example.  My example is the very one that allows for a return to normalcy.   If you are under the age of 50 or so.. your chance of mortality from covid is virtually non existent.  The vaccine will likely make you sick and have side effects albeit milder and much more controlled than the disease itself.  Getting Covid will make you sick.  In both cases, your immune system will be charged and YOU ARE THEN PART OF THE SOLUTION.    Your immunity is real.  You should also be immune to the escalating societal FEAR factors.  
We the people, particularly the immune,  MUST stand against the fear and speak out.  We must set an example rooted in safety and freedom.   Society needs us now and in the future more than ever.  
If this “lockdown” safety first, flatten the curve, approach is really about safety, then it must recognize that Covid Recovered is the goal for EVERYONE.   If it is about power, and control, and manipulating the people for influence and authority.. then the go along to get along, just do it until it is safe, translates to kneel before the medical authority for the collective greater good.   

Time will tell US which is true.  I suspect it is a both and scenario,  and I hope that the immune champions will see through the fog of fear and act accordingly with their example.  I plan to do so wherever I can.  

— unity of purpose is hard enough. Uniformity of action is utopian. If your premise requires ALL to comply then it is unachievable in a free society and indeed silly, naive, and utterly useless.

NOONE with a mask or without a mask is responsible for you and your behavior. This idea that a person who is living is now responsible for you is worthy of ridicule. I don’t get to judge what you eat, where you go, what you touch, who you socialize with, or why you do those things.

If you want to stay safe, protect yourself. We must Stop assigning deadly intent to choices. It is foolish and destructive. I decide for me, not for you.

​I was in attendance at the school board meeting last night and I witnessed the consequences of fear on fine people.  It is devastating.  I could see the pain in  faces of friends and leaders and so many others. I am sorry for that.  I believe that our superintendent and staffing leadership is exemplary.  Our School Board members are listening and leading.  The efficacy of their decision will be told in results over the next year.  Success is not certain with any of our existing paths.

That said... Finding a path forward rooted in principles and priorities is the only way.  What we have now is NOT working.  Maintaining a focus on the children is paramount in every sense and I’m proud to them leading our school system. I challenge them to their experience even in the face of the withering emotional toll from the fearful. Our culture is in a bad place currently. Poor behaviors and choices are infecting us all but leadership and bold thoughtful steps is the path forward. 

We must ALL Think outside the box. We MUST Get those kids back into rooms with teachers and trust in the skills and passions of the teachers to find a way.  I believe that we cannot continue to allow families and children to burn 🔥 with the farce that is virtual learning 2020.  Attendance, equity, special needs, arts, coaching, sports... The public services in these areas are failing daily.   Burning is the correct analogy in every sense as families, schools, churches, workplaces and society is coming apart quite literally.  Our future is in those children.  Our present is with those parents and teachers.  We do not have the choice to continue on

We will must work together and help.  Hard decisions are required.  Leaders must lead. We the people must follow and then adjust in the future.  This is the only way. 

Proud to have spent the day with such a fabulous team of Help4School volunteers. The collaboration and communication was astounding. Complex problems have complex solutions. Period. There is no middle ground and our problems with virtual schooling are far deeper than technology. The pain cut to the core of our culture and exposes priorities and choices with unprecedented ferocity. We the people must stand up and choose to change for our future. Everything has changed and the change is permanent. We are not going back. Where are we going exactly? That is a great question. I believe it is all about small group accountability in organic growth and education pods. MicroSchools built and supported by landing zones and central facilities. This fundamental shift is profound and will be costly in every sense. We can use this pop up model to support and encourage organic institutional flexibility from the bottom up. Top down is effectively dying. IMO.
Teaching and teachers are essential. What we are doing now is leaving too many behind. We can do education and inspiration differently. We must do education and inspiration differently. Our youngest generations lives are at stake and ours with them.

Leading includes managing panic and optics and tone actively. Drawing a causal connection to more deaths because of Trump’s decisions and actions is ridiculous politics.
It is deplorable and naive to state that “Trump lied and people died.” The panic and fear kill and the ramifications of the humanitarian crisis are just beginning. Since we are now doing counterfactuals... in retrospect... if Hilary had been in charge things would have been very different and radically worse... such is the way of liars and losers and cowards. Trump is none of those things. With Biden it would have been far far worse. No closed borders in Feb and March is just as a start to how bad things could have been.

And to be clear, there is much we could have done better. But hindsight is 2020. Always has been... Actual leaders know this.

from Dave Foreman on FB
“so Donald Trump made some comments to Bob Woodward in March/April and now everyone is going nuts. Right.

I was doing a LOT of analysis back then on who said what when. The CDC, WHO, and government and private groups were desperately trying to make sense of things. EVERYONE was overreacting on too little factual information out of an abundance of caution. What was said one day was contradicted a week or a month later.

The president said in a short conversation that the virus was more deadly than the flu and also said he was downplaying it because he did not want to create a panic. THAT IS HIS JOB. Presidents are responsible for managing the mood of the country as the facts unfold.

Anyone who tries to act like they 'knew' what was happening is exaggerating. When you are shutting down air travel to other countries, contemplating the death of 2 million of your citizens, and don't really understand the disease yet because your medical team doesn't you say things to calm and sometimes manipulate the public. Remember that the people that want universal masks now were saying we didn't need then then - BECAUSE WE DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH PPE AND WANTED MEDICAL PEOPLE TO HAVE THE INVENTORY. We have tens of thousands of ventilators now that may never be used because we thought we needed them.

I get that if you want to defeat Trump in November or you can't stand the man ANYTHING will be a great reason to further your position. That does not, however, make it true. Various governors and Senators and Mayors said a lot of contradictory things around the same time. That is what panic does.“
​

The choir and collective singing is in the heart of worship.  It is powerful, indicting,  and comforting, but not always comfortable.  Your congregation is essentially a choir.   The recent pandemic crisis has restricted almost all communal singing due to the numbers, aerosol science speculations, fear, and the reality that Covid is a serious and dangerous disease for many choral singers due to age, comorbidity and a whole series of issues and complications born out of congregating together. 

Is worship suffering? Yes it is. 
Are churches growing in the midst of this crisis?  Not in nickels and noses that I can see.  but maybe in other ways.  

My premise is that the absence of congregational and choral singing has reminded us all of how important worship is to our wellbeing.    It also exposes a critical gap in many churches engagement models.   Fellowship, Sunday School for kids and adults, Bible Study, and Service projects are the lifeblood of our churches.. Worship is a reflection of service.. in a service.  It is the lens, the metric, to evaluate our health.   When we are faithful and submit to serve and love others… Worship will showcase our hearts.  
We must sing together and share songs.  This is about more than physical singing.  It is about example. Singing is uncomfortable for many because it is an outward and public sharing of heart.  This exposes us, and makes us vulnerable.  We are so lucky that God covers us.  
Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you.

Breaking News!! Very little in the real “local” world is actually about President Trump.

He doesn’t represent conservative right Christian principles any more than Biden represents the progressive left. Ultimately we vote on ideas, not people. This is why identity politics and the emerging cancel culture born of a victimization systemic oppression mindset is useless.

We cannot live on past success and failure any longer. We can live and love into a future based in service ams choice in place of control and dependency. In community and society based on liberty, we can choose to help.

I do think that President Trump is the best choice available for now but I dream of a brighter future.

Worry and anxiety kill. Faith, Hope, and Love sustains. Each of us chooses how to LIVE.

Focusing on how to not die each day is a mindset for victims and losers. Worst of all it spreads like a virus. I don’t understand the morbid attraction to suffering and victimization so prevalent in 2020. I speculate that it is perpetuated by #idiotsincharge to facilitate control and compliance.

Tech and AudioVisual personnel are the new normal linchpins. EVERY institution needs competent, professional, execution and delivery architecture.
$$$
In the RONAreality of 2020+ leaders better pay them and love them and respect them. Period.

I want to grant sincerity to technology and healthcare leaders. I don’t anymore. My cynicism born of the 2020trials and 20+ years in tech and leadership has infected me. I’m not sure there is a cure. I’m not sure there will ever be a cure. Without a modicum of respect, the distrust germinates and spreads like a virus into every experience.

I trust God. Period. His power is absolute. His love is unbounded. He listens and hears me in my whining.

The #idiotsincharge of America’s public health policy are unable or at least unwilling to qualify and quantify risks and reactions to decisions. The risk of dying immediately (acute crisis) MUST be balanced against the long term ramifications and chronic crisis concerns. This reasoning includes employment, social connections, and the entire Maslow hierarchy of needs.

Life, Liberty or Lockdown seems to be the current state of affairs in leadership. The cost of impairing education, and jobs/dignity along with creating systemic dependency and victimization is catastrophic.

As a man of faith, I am not afraid to die today. I do not want to die today. I do not want others to die today either, but it will happen as life goes on and our story continues to be written. We live and we die. The crisis is not in the death as much as it is in our choice to not live.
We need to reject fear.
We need to seek liberty and livelihood and love and service.
We must choose a better balance as we rebuild America. Hindsight is 2020. The fear of the first half of 2020 must be managed.

To live or not to live will always perplex us in the how. I say that we accept the crisis and manage but we must see and embrace the totality of the crisis. There is no drug to fix it. There is no magic easy button. Every day, I choose to live.

You decide or do you? The debate centers on who gets to decide how we care for and treat others. Wearing a mask is a powerful psychological symbol. The medical effect is up for debate.

In this world of 2020 where nearly all trust in government authority has been eroded or even actively destroyed, we the people WILL decide.

​ Blame and shame is a pathetic excuse for leadership. Period.

Headlines read “cases up, new record highs”
this is a good thing. The virus will spread as they always do. The morbidity rate for just about anyone under 70 is so small that it is largely insignificant. As the cases in the “99.9+% likely to survive” segment increase the human race develops the ability to fight back with its intelligent design immune system and systems.
the approach must be to minimize the deaths from this new threat. Period. That means isolating elderly, at risk segments and continuing life among everyone else. Yes the virus will spread. Yes. Folks will get sick and in rare cases die... That is LIFE.

we all live in face of fear and and make choices. I choose to LIVE and do the best I can as I always have. The viruses and sickness and tragedy surround me. My faith hope and love sustain me. The fear is a disease in itself and the impact and fatality rate of this global fear virus is at a record high. Cases are up and spreading even now.