77 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 5-30-20”

  3. I have only seen a bit of the local news this morning, but destruction and looting were going on in several areas. Bulkhead is not too far from here, maybe five or six miles, and a strip mall had all the businesses bashed in and messed up including a dental office, AT&T,, a mattress store and other storefronts. The older black community that feels pride in their accomplishments in Atlanta are feeling especially insulted by what has happened. I don’t even know what to feel except knowing evil has been unleashed and it is crazy chaos. The National Guard were called in to protect the National Football Hall of Fame.

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  4. Good morning. I don’t know, I get motion sick fairly easily. Flying…..I think I will walk for now. Besides, have you seen some of those predators up there?

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  5. The header is an eastern kingbird. If a person wants to practice taking photos of birds i flight (no, this isn’t 100% sharp), there is probably no better species. First, they are large and pretty. Second, they don’t seem that cautious of people. And third, when they are hunting insects, they will fly out from a tree or fence again and again, giving one lots of chances. This one and its mate were hunting from a tree practically outside our condo, just a unit or two over, and I watched them for 10 or 15 minutes one evening on my way home from a walk, I’ve watched them before. Most of my flight shots of them had the foliage behind them, and so the bird was either not really in focus or not really distinct against the dark leaves, but with this one I knew he’d show up against the sky. This was my second of two shots, with the other clearer but this one the bird is closer and has a more interesting pose.

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  9. Tall buildings there, Janice? Am I remembering correctly?

    QOD for Cheryl— did you always want to be a photographer? Did you show/participate in art as a child?

    Banging and highly unusual thunder woke us all this morning!

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  10. We are predicted to have thunderstorms this afternoon. It is a good season of rain around these parts and we are thankful 😊
    But…I am in hopes the rain will stall until this evening. The “patriarch” of our small group has turned 90 today! We are having a drive by parade at his home…decorating our cars and honking our horns as we drive past his home. He is just the dearest wisest man…I can just see his surprised smile upon his face!

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  11. Yes, Michelle, Buckhead has tall buildings and in a sense could be called uptown or maybe newtown in contrast to the old downtown.

    I asked Art if he knew why CNN was a target and he said he had glanced a headline on a newsfeed that something had happened with CNN reporters in Minneapolis. I have not had time to find out more.

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  13. Michelle asked, “QOD for Cheryl— did you always want to be a photographer? Did you show/participate in art as a child?”

    Not a simple yes/no pair of questions. 🙂 Re art: My oldest brother (14 years my senior) was an established artist by the time I was in junior high. We grew up visiting the Phoenix Art Museum, and occasionally other art museums, and we’d look for his paintings. At some point, I’m not sure what year, I mentioned to my art teacher that my big brother was an artist, and she asked if he’d be willing to speak to the class, so I asked him. And he brought some of his watercolors and did a discussion. Afterward, my teacher said, “He really is an artist! I’ve had students tell me their dad is an artist and it turns out he makes candles.” I was amused, and told my brother. When I was in eighth grade, he had a one-man art show in the Phoenix Art Museum . . . and I don’t know if that was more impressive when I was 13 and this was my big brother or now when I realize that a one-man art show at such an institution is a really, really big deal. Anyway, he invited me to invite my art teacher and my English teacher to opening night, and I did, and they both came. It was such a proud moment to be the ones to invite two favorite teachers to something “exclusive” like that–and it was really thoughtful of him to allow me that moment. My husband is also an artist, though he hasn’t done enough with it and so far he hasn’t sold his work. My oldest niece (not the artist’s daughter) makes her living by art, and the artist’s son has done some art of his own, not sure how seriously. (Meanwhile the artist brother now sells other people’s artwork and hasn’t painted in years.) I believe one of my uncles may have done some art. My favorite brother gave me a set of colored pencils when I was about 10, and I loved them, and have loved colored pencils ever since, though I’ve never “done much” with them. Oh, and I did win a prize in an art contest (poster contest) for National Wildlife Federation when I was in fifth or sixth grade, drawing an oriole on its nest–a picture I copied from the encyclopedia, as I’d never seen an oriole!

    Nature: I have never NOT spent time watching animals. When I was in first grade, I won a reading contest and my prize (not sure if we got to pick it or the teacher gave something she thought we would like) was Walt Disney’s True-Life Adventures. It had four sections, one each on several animals, with many photos in each. It was published in the 1950s along with a film series. Fascinating to me is that my own photography is much better quality than most of what’s in that book–photography, and the expectations of wildlife photography, have advanced that much. But I read that book so many times the binding fell apart. I did order another copy a few years ago. I also spent my playground hours walking around looking for pretty rocks, watching ants and bees, and so forth. Swinging on the swings if one was open at the right time. I didn’t really have friends, and that’s what I did. At home, too. I watched animals, read about animals, spouted facts about animals. My eighth-grade yearbook gave my desired profession as zoologist. Had I had a family with a rich uncle taking an interest in a child’s interests, I might well be a scientist. As it happened, my family mostly saw my interest in animals as a cute and mostly harmless quirk I’d probably outgrow.

    Photography: Mom gave me a 110 (square photos) camera when I was 10 or 12. Each Christmas I would get a roll of film, 12- or sometimes 24-exposures, along with Mom paying for developing that roll. So I’d make it last for months. And I’d turn it in with great expectations, but only one photo on the roll would be good. It had a stiff shutter and blurred virtually every shot, whether I took the photo or someone else did. When I was 20, I finally bought a 35-mm camera, which I loved. I drooled over the camera with a zoom lens for sale in the camera store next door to the drugstore where I worked, but it cost maybe $300 and that was two-months’ rent or about half my take-home pay for a month (1988), so it was a dream that I would someday own one, but not something I could justify even saving toward. In my late twenties I took a driving trip through Arizona (I flew there, rented a car, spent a week with my mom and another week with my “adopted grandma” in Kingman, and took day trips to all my favorite places, with just one night in a hotel), and in preparation for that trip I finally bought a camera with a zoom lens–though by today’s standards it had virtually no zoom. When my husband and I were getting married, we each bought a camera for our honeymoon, me with a zoom lens and him without. My camera actually wasn’t very sharp, but it got just close enough to taking good photos of birds to tease me, and so when I read reviews of a camera that did get decent shots of birds, with a respectable zoom, my husband bought it for me. And a couple of years later when that camera broke, and I saw that one with an even longer zoom had come out, I tried to justify the expense. And while I was pondering, a publisher I hadn’t worked with before offered me a new editing project . . . and a “rush” bonus that just about matched the price of the camera. I was already fully booked, lots and lots of editing on my plate, but I took the job and bought the camera. And now, if my editing schedule will ever calm down for a month, I would like to combine my writing, nature, and photography interests and do some writing–but until that happens I am continuing to take photos so that at least I’m ready.

    Thanks for asking!

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  14. Janice, a CNN reporter and his crew (3 altogether, I believe) was arrested in Minneapolis. I am not sure who arrested him. There were highway patrolmen, policemen and the National Guard called out. The National Guard could arrest no one. I believe there was a lot of confusion. The reporter seemed to have done what he was asked to do and he happened to be black.

    The head of the police force in that district is black. As are many others. You would not realize it by some of the reporting. It is all so sad.

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  15. Janice , I awoke about 3 am and scanned FB. Someone had posted a video of Mayor Bottoms speaking. We had been watching Zoo Animals before bed so I had no idea what had happened. FB blocked me from seeing the video so I went out on Youtube and found it. I was very impressed with her.

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  16. It was bound to happen sometime. My Sweet Little Miss had turned into a Two Year Old Terror. If you tell her no, she cries and wants Papa. If he tells her no she flings herself on the floor and cries. She has him wrapped around her pinkie. He hasn’t returned from taking her home but we are going to have to have a talk about how manipulative little girls are and how he is not doing her any favors. He kept threatening to swat her behind with the fly swatter. Finally I took it away from him and swatted her diaper covered behind. It hurt her feelings more than anything, but it got her attention so I could tell her not to do what she was doing.
    O-Bee is going to have to come back to my house. O-Bee is a medium size rubber spatula and an little tap has been known to get little girls attention in the past. I swat isn’t the punishment and should not be painful. It should just get their attention so the discipline can happen.

    I am worn out.

    I went into the office yesterday. It was good to see a few people. I got back for real on Monday. I will be teaching Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights. I won’t go in on Tuesdays and Fridays.

    Yesterday BG and I went to the nail salon and banished our Covid-Toes. I have an appointment to do something with my Covid-Hair on Tuesday. Mr. P isn’t going to be happy. He likes it in a ponytail on top of my head.

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  17. Difficult morning here, the two boys next door got into a pretty serious fight in the garage, some gun brandishing was involved. Police took one of them away in handcuffs the other one remains.

    I believe the governor apologized later for the arrest of the CNN crew. I suspect that attacks on the CNN offices were simply because they were “there,” no particular message intended. It’s always stressful for news crews covering these things, it’s not easy and can be quite dangerous, things go south very fast.

    There will likely be another round of it tonight. Praying for safety for all and that calm voices might (for a change) prevail.

    Interesting post by our former copy editor chief & a Christian on FB today:

    ________________________

    ~ With 2020 filled with so much pain, good leaders would be calling for something like 60 days of mourning, grieving, lamentation, humility and repentance along with a year (?) of genuine conversation — however that could happen in this C-19 era — that would help bring change where needed and heal wounded hearts. Not that people would always agree on everything, but … sigh … I just honestly don’t know sometimes … ~
    __________________________

    Reminded me of one of the things a pastor said when I was interviewing him the other day — he said this all should bring about a recognition of our own spiritual poverty in the nation.

    But that doesn’t seem to be happening. It feels like one of those times when God is giving us over to ourselves (and that’s never a good outcome).

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  18. Janice, Atlanta’s mayor — she nailed it last night in her remarks, very impressive.

    Photographer friend now with the Times took some amazing shots last night in LA but one of his cameras was hit by a rubber bullet. It’s so dangerous out there, for everyone. Yes, there are peaceful components to these protests — no gathering like this is 100% one thing or another — but whenever there are that many people together in this environment, egging each other on, trouble and violence is almost a given. The later it gets, the worse it becomes and it all quickly spins out of control. It’s a recipe we’ve seen over and over, pretty predictable.

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  20. Let’s pray that they are able to restore order.

    A four mile hike in the middle of the day is enough for me. Is it a new fashion statement to have sweat dripping off your hair??

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  21. Make of it what you like, but tomorrow is Pentecost. Many people around the world expect and have been praying for something unusual from God. Should that be on its way, don’t you think Satan would be working overtime to divert attention away from –maybe revival?

    Revival alone is what can deal with the ugliness, bitterness, anger, horror in our world today.

    I’m trying very hard to stay mum on social media. It’s too easy to be misinterpreted. 😦

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  22. Angry voices everywhere right now. Pride, hostility. No dialogue is possible.

    This is a spiritual darkness, that “looks like” a political/cultural issue.

    Back to praying …

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  23. I do think we have to acknowledge that black people have a right to be angry, particularly black citizens of Minnesota. This was apparently a known problem swept under the rug (inappropriate police standards and “bad cops” being allowed to stay on the force). And when the police are a danger to you, and your community is also dangerous, it’s a bad mix. Add in the COVID weariness and whatever it has done to one’s community, and it’s a powder keg.

    I can’t imagine how helpless and angry we might feel if it were “one of our own” under a policeman’s heel for several minutes until he died. Imagine that pastors were targeted police somewhat regularly and then you see this image of a pastor you know and trust being murdered so callously by those who are supposed to protect him. Now, for Christians, we have an answer of how we are supposed to respond when we are treated with injustice and contempt . . . but what do you do if you don’t have such an answer? What if you have been experiencing the unmerited suspicion of police yourself (and you don’t trust police as a result) for decades, and you’re oh so tired of it, and you see this? My youngest brother is white, but he lived for several years in a black neighborhood, mostly driving older cars, and he said he got pulled over so often it was really wearisome–and the police backpedaling when they saw they’d accidentally pulled over a white dude gave him real compassion for his neighbors.

    I stayed awake till 4:00 or so this morning, largely in grief of the horror of all of it–the senseless killing, the rioting that is bringing more unrest and more loss to communities already on the edge (what do you do if you don’t own a car and the only store you can walk to is looted and shut down indefinitely?), the vast amounts of wisdom needed by leaders at such a time (and that most probably don’t have). It’s all so very ugly. Crowds can get really dangerous really quickly under some circumstances, and those circumstances certainly seem to be present now.

    But tomorrow is the Lord’s Day, and we will be gathering virtually or for real with God’s people on this special day. May He give us His peace and His wisdom, and grow us closer to Himself and to our brothers and sisters.

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  24. One of our own was under the police officer, George was a believer whom God already had used for good works.

    What I’m debating is the difference between true and false guilt. There’s a lot of shaming and accusations of false guilt going on out there.

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  25. I do understand the anger and have not been terribly surprised by the aftermath.

    Are there also those taking advantage of the mayhem to loot and commit other crimes? Undoubtedly. There is a wide mix of folks who end up in these melees, some are trying to nonviolently protest but they are overtaken (or swept in another direction) as the night wears on and the situation becomes more volatile.

    These mass gatherings at night bring much trouble and violence, it’s really quite predictable.

    But there’s really not a lot authorities can say that will quell the impulses right now. It almost has to play itself out. Let’s pray that the authorities will be wise in their responses.

    We don’t need gasoline to be poured on the fire.

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  27. It is indeed.

    I am on break right now, from an absolutely insane day at work, in which everything that could go wrong did, but I thought this link was important to share, as it demonstrates that the QAnon conspiracy theories are not limited to a certain group in the US – other countries have the same theorists swallowing the same stuff: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/may/30/australian-anti-vaxxers-label-covid-19-a-scam-and-break-distancing-rules-at-anti-5g-protests

    Like

  28. The rain held off and we had our drive by parade! LeRoy was so surprised! I decorated the car with a tassel banner, 9 and 0 balloons attached and a sign trimmed in gold glitter saying Happy 90th birthday LeRoy! He loved it! What a complete and utter joy it was and soooo many cars. One fella even drove his farm tractor over! (LeRoy grew up on a dairy farm in WI and his brother continues to live and work that farm…and he still uses the first tractor the family purchased in 1946….before that they used horses to pull the equipment!) 😊

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  29. Michelle, I get the “false guilt” thing. Not every white person is a racist or complicit in racism. And most police officers do a hard job with honor and dignity.

    And yes, indeed he was one of our own.

    But it is a grievous time for our nation, and my heart hurts for individuals I know and love.

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  30. BTW, DJ, re yr . . . OK, now (or soon anyway) I will revert to regular English . . . anyway, your suggestion I contact the Australian company to see if they can track down the package I ordered six weeks ago, and that tracking had told us several days ago was “out for delivery” and then would be delivered “late . . . by 8:00 p.m.” and then after that it changed to being en route and “on track for final destination” but without telling us what city they’d shipped it off to?

    Well, I e-mailed the Australian company, and my husband contacted the post office here. I had another package (a smaller one, with just two items) I had ordered from the Australian company a month earlier, and when it never arrived, I looked at the tracking data and realized it had been sent to our old address. The item I wanted most had then gone out of stock, but they told me if the package was sent back to them, they’d reship it to me. Anyway, when I e-mailed Australia, he told me that the package had been returned to them about two weeks ago, and he had tried unsuccessfully to contact me and decided just to wait until I contacted him, and did I still want it? I assumed he meant the second missing package, but as I thought about it, I realized the “two weeks ago” had to have meant it was the first package, since the second was in my town this week. So my contacting them means I should get my order after all (though I did reorder the second item and will have two of something I don’t need two of). And eventually tracking did let us know the other package is in St Louis, Missouri now. Hopefully it will come back to Indiana without further traveling, and hopefully the package that has been to the US and back to Australia will come to me no worse for wear in a few more weeks. But the first package will take about four months to get to me, and the second one probably just over six weeks. The company usually includes a free product, and hopefully it will be a good one. 🙂

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  32. Our 9 year old granddaughter sent this e-mail to our Pastor tonight:
    “This is Emily, can we open up church? Trump said churches are essential and God is so that makes churches essential right? It is ok if you are a little not comfiterble with this situation. I myself hate to wear a mask. But if we go to church we shouldn’t have to wear a mask, and the older people like Mrs.Milderid can stay home and we and record it maybe. Remember this if you worry about it way too much while preaching or even just at home: the Spanish flu went away and so will this and my grandma Linda she told me to think about the good things in life even though the world may be very scary right now. I added that last part. Now when we open up we should definitely do the care packs and this idea I have had for a while: we could still have Easter breakfast! But sadly not on Easter. And if we can’t have the breakfast together like people say then just spread our chairs six feet apart! And we shouldn’t have to wear masks! It is not a law, you are the boss of this one if we should or shouldn’t wear masks but I think we shouldn’t. we should open at full capacity even though our church is like 50% capacity. If you are worried about catching it you won’t because God will keep you safe , he has kept me safe so he will keep you safe.
    You can say this prayer for church and those there:
    Dear God please help us during this time, keep us safe the congregation and my family. Help us all even those without compromised immune systems. We all need your loving, kind and graceful help.
    Amen!
    Miss you and church.”

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  34. You have a wise granddaughter, Linda.

    We just returned from celebrating oldest grandson’s birthday. He is 9. He spent most of the day sharing his new Minecraft game with his siblings, then building the Minecraft Lego sets he got.

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  35. Cheryl – Thank you for your comments about the anger and fear in the black community. So many of our fellow white people don’t want to acknowledge that racism is still a big problem. I think a lot of racism is subconscious in that a person may not think of himself as racist or prejudiced, but there are certain assumptions or biases deep in his mind/heart that he does not recognize. (In that kind of case, I prefer the word “prejudiced” to “racist”. I think of actual racism as more hateful.)

    A while back, I read an article by a woman who said that she and her friends are black professionals. They were college-educated and had good, well-paying jobs, and lived in nice neighborhoods. But they were all leery of ever calling the police because most of them had been treated roughly by police in the past. A big study a few years ago found that black people stopped by police, even if they were not committing a crime or doing anything wrong (and even if they were the ones who called the police in the first place), are much more likely than white people to be roughed up in some way.

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  36. I think many of us (who are “white”) see the progress that actually has been made over the past several decades (and here has been much), including electing a black president, and think the problem is resolved. But, like Kizzie said, there remains the subconscious prejudice that remains. The majority race doesn’t see it, but the minority race clearly does.

    So we, in the majority, are surprised when things erupt like this.

    I just had a phone alert that tonight’s curfew extends throughout the city of LA — I’m not near where the unrest has been, downtown is about 25 miles away, but I am in the city so it affects us. No clubbing for me tonight.

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  37. I remember the Rodney King 1992 riots where some of the unrest did get fairly close to us. There was a countywide (I believe) curfew then and I still remember driving home (then to Long Beach, over the bridge) after the curfew one night and being one of the only cars around, seeing the smoke rising from several fires in the not-to-distant landscape. Eerie.

    But there have been quite a few of these police actions against African Americans.

    We also lived on the border of the Watts riots when I was growing up. My dad was working nights and it was stressful for my mom (there were National Guardsmen with rifles stationed on top of the local Sears store). On one of those nights, my mom was up waiting for my dad to get home when something started banging on the back door.

    Turned out to be our gigantic cat, Nancy, who used to hurl herself against the door to get in; but my mom didn’t make that connection at first.

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  38. You do realize that it is a black man who is the head of the police precinct where these cops were from or that there are minority officers in it? It is a shame that what a few bad officers have done has tarnished all of them. I am not sure how that is any more appropriate than saying what a few black people have done is a reflection of all of the black race.

    I don’t know anyone black or white that thinks that what those officers did was right or that people do not have a right to be angry about it.

    I do wonder why we would excuse anyone black, white or any other color for the anarchy that took place just because they were angry. What an insult to assume that of anyone! Is that what we are teaching our children? As long as you are angry you are free to damage, steal, set fires and injure others?

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  39. Linda, that is perceptive for a nine year old. Early for concern for spiritual things.

    When I came here a few minutes ago, I noticed that it was exactly the time we usuallyh leave for church. I don’t believe I have ever been out of church so long, even before I became a Christian. I used to attend SS at Trinity Methodist Church in Charleston. And if anyone asked me what church I attended, I would say “Trinity”. But I didn’t really have a concept of salvation until I was in my ‘teens.
    But for someone who’s Sunday’s are pre-determined, there is nothing to do but watch riots on TV.
    Don’t think I will do that. Elvera is in there staring at a blank screen.
    Maybe I’ll do that too.,

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  40. Prejudice runs through all people. Look at the poor blacks who resent the middle-class or wealthy blacks. Look at the poor whites who are prejudiced against the rich. Look at the blacks who hate whites, etc. Sin is at the root of all prejudice, and sin is rampant in our society.

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  41. Chas, do the virtual services not work for you for some reason? It’s my new routine, our church live-streams its service and the SS Q&A with the pastor (you can email questions in beforehand or during the SS period live) every Sunday and I’m always “there.” I sing, pray, recite the creed and take notes during the sermon.

    No, not the same, not at all, but it’s still my Sunday morning routine. Church every Sunday. I’m “there.” So it’s different but not radically different in that sense. It’s still a morning and day ‘set apart.’

    Our church actually is starting in-person services today — one at 9 and the other at 11 (which will be the one being still live-streamed as usual). Some will go, some will not. Even some of our elders will opt out for now. Some may have health or age concerns, others, like me, primarily just feel it’s a tad too early based on the stats in California.

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  42. I don’t think we fully grasp the lingering influence and remembrance for blacks of institutionalized racism that was so much a part of our culture in this nation for so long until just rather recently. It seems so much in our past to many of us, but I think for the African American community there are ingrained and residual reminders that continue to this day. It’s a difference in perspective that is difficult if not impossible for those of us in the majority “white” community to fully grasp. It may just take a couple more generations for it be more rooted out, I don’t know. Those years are still part of our fairly recent history.

    And yes, racial and other kinds of prejudice have their roots in sin, always. So in that sense it will always be with us and in us.

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  43. And it’s certainly not “ok” to give in to anger in violence. I don’t think anyone would ever concede that.

    But the pain and anger explode again and again when these high-profile incidents that seem to have a racial component to them occur all too often.

    I still hear prejudicial statements voiced; I was surprised to hear a childhood friend make such statements in recent years. Aren’t we all past that? Apparently not, it lingers still just below the surface perhaps. We’ve made much progress in the U.S., in my mind our racial past feels more like ancient history; but sin remains and so do some of those underlying attitudes.

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  44. Kathaleena, absolutely people don’t have a right to destroy things because they’re angry. Children don’t, spouses don’t, and adult citizens don’t. But I thought the mayor of St Paul had a very good statement about the issue, and he carefully separated out those who are angry but peaceful and those who are looting and rioting.

    And of course the bad policemen are a minority–but they are a big enough minority that if you talk to a black man, he will be able to tell you several experiences with them. It’s like the sexual abuse in the Catholic church–it may not have been the majority, but it nevertheless was a big enough issue to be a systemic problem, and for people who interacted with them to be affected negatively by that interaction.

    It doesn’t help that a large number of black men are dangerous, and that police officers constantly see in real life the stereotype of “dangerous black man.” But rogue policemen do all law enforcement a disservice when they themselves disrespect the law, and disrespect image bearers.

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  45. My first supervisor at the Army Map Service in 1963 was a black man. Zeno V. K. It took me about five seconds to get used to that. He was GS-12 at the time.
    I don’t think I had an expression that showed. He retired years later as a GS-13, and as I moved up, we became colleagues, not friends, but people who helped each other do the work.

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  46. These riots are a magnet for all kinds of people, with or without a cause. They become a free-for-all rather quickly.

    I see that Trey Gowdy this morning is saying a Murder 1 should have been the charge, not Murder 3. Interesting.

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  47. What big brother said about racism. Just finished church with son and family in Virginia. Pastor gave an excellent detailed sermon on John 3:16. He pointed out that God’s gift shows how evil racism is. True.

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  49. Morning! This a beautiful day given to us and we will have our first church gathering tonight. So many restrictions and guidelines though we shall see how this is going to work.
    The Springs had some rowdy protesters last evening, breaking windows, vandalizing cars and buildings….and there were “imported” protesters there stirring it up. Rubber bullets and tear gas were used I hear. Those poor business owners who have now only been allowed to open their businesses. One restaurant owner sent out a message to customers encouraging them to stay away as the SWAT team was walking the streets of downtown…so sad.

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  51. Our church will open next week. Our online service has been different. One person for prayer and announcements, then someone else playing a guitar and singing, both alone in their own offices or outside, Then a pastor with the message, but not in the main sanctuary. Doesn’t feel real to me. We have two services by two different pastors and musicians. I go to both, but last week didn’t finish until last night.

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  52. We have to choose and sign up for the service we want to attend. And there will be five, two at the same time, in the gym and the sanctuary and no walking between them. I was excited to hear that we can sing, but must be wearing a mask if we want to sing.

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  53. Real Estate Guy called, he’s fit to be tied, as we used to say. Said he can’t stop arguing with people on my FB story link posts. I almost hesitate to post links to stories about either coronavirus or the civil unrest, everyone’s in a state

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  54. Our live stream is done in the sanctuary, there are always a few people there for staff purposes; a few musicians. Otherwise it looks the same.

    Under the CDC guidelines to return to in-person services, we will have to make reservations for one of two services, sit 6 feet apart (families can sit together but singles like me will have to sit alone); wear masks; not touch; file in and out by different doors; have temperatures checked. I don’t know, but that doesn’t seem very “real” or normal to me either.

    Maybe our worship experience is too centered on us? It’s one of the points made in the Ligonier discussion video I linked to a week ago or so.

    We continue to pray for a vaccine.

    Until then, this is what we have.

    What is God teaching us?

    But there’s no reason to miss church, really, thanks to our technology now. Not the same, we should be gathering but there are times when we can’t.

    Liked by 2 people

  55. My pastor has started a series of sermons on prayer. Excellent timing. I just did the service and afterwards the prayer group but did not zoom in for Sunday school/Life group before the service.

    Liked by 1 person

  57. I realized this morning why I prefer my Sunday School class to the worship service–which doesn’t really work for me either.

    There are about 15 people in the class–including five elders. Everyone has been a believer walking their faith for a long time and it all comes out in the discussion.

    Liked by 2 people

  59. I think my church Direction Team which meets Monday evening will make a decision about when to start in person services. I don’t think I will go until after Art gets through his procedure on the 15th.

    Liked by 1 person

  60. Lovely time of fellowship and worshiping together this morning! Good to see the others. There were about twenty two of us in attendance, seated in family groups. No masks as the elders decided, because Idaho is doing no masks as of tomorrow, and we are social distancing and staying away when sick, we would go for it. Very encouraging to be back together again. Excellent message on resting in Him.

    Liked by 2 people

  61. Our pastor mentioned today something that was interesting, that he thinks race relations today are much worse than they were when he was in college (mid-1970s). He may be right.

    There are a few demonstrations in our area today, organized by Antifa from what one person told me, but not sure.

    Liked by 1 person

  62. On break – it has been a long weekend.

    DJ, I think race relations are worsening. I said, before it became common knowledge that online movements like the incel, QAnon, and the online white supremacist were present, that I was detecting an undercurrent of rage from those of my generation who were of European descent online. Time has borne out my observations. Mass shootings targeting synagogues and mosques, vehicle attacks, and shootings targeting immigrant populations and visible minorities have all been perpetrated within the last few years in Western countries. And a good number are perpetrated by members of the younger generation.

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  63. My friend who lives 40 miles away from DJ went to buy a gun today. He will have it in 10 days. Mr P said the black peoples aren’t coming after him. That isn’t why he bought it. There are those among us who
    Believe we are headed for civil war and they will end up in the “camps”.

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  64. Things seemed pretty optimistic in the ’70s in terms of race relations.

    Somehow you think it won’t go “backwards,” but it does and it has.

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  65. My pastor was one of 2 white athletes with scholarships on a track and field team that was all black otherwise, he said it was a cohesive, close-knit group.

    Not a comparison, haha, but I was the only white person on my Sears employee bowling team during the mid-70s as well. Still have the team picture in which I stood out with my very long, and (then) very red hair.

    Things were on an upswing with race relations during those years, we’d made it through the Civil Rights period into what seemed like a new dawn of equity, though advancing a bit slowly in some respects.

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  66. My (half Italian) pastor, when he was about 9 years old in the 1960s, recalled today at church how excited he was as a kid to learn all about the Civil Rights movement in school. When he spotted a rare black kid in his beach neighborhood, he was so excited he ran up to him and said “Hi! Hi!” — probably was a little too enthusiastic, he says now.

    Liked by 2 people

  67. A comment was made above that many black men are dangerous. I would add that many white men are dangerous as well, as Roscuro’s comment illustrates.

    Like

  68. The govrnor of Missouri has called up the National Guard. Smart move. We haven’t had any riots yet, but just in case he wants them ready.

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  69. From serious matters to something frivolous. . .

    Nightingale “got wined” a little while ago.

    She is on a Facebook private group, “Sisterhood of the Traveling Wine”. (There are different local chapters all over.) Not sure what all the posts might be about, but one thing they do is surprise each other with gifts of wine (or other type of alcohol) along with other goodies.

    Some ladies post their addresses so that they can “get wined”. (Theoretically, with the group being private, no one else can see that info. But rumor has it that someone joined one of the groups to grab photos of the ladies’ children.) Nightingale has not posted her address, but the ladies who got together to “wine” her know her personally, so they know where she lives.

    The bag contained three servings of different flavor Martini ingredients, a bag of pasta and a jar of pasta sauce, a bar of fancy chocolate, and a couple other little items. She was surprised and so thrilled.

    Earlier today, she had wined a lady she works with. In the gift bag for this lady, she included homemade Peach Sangria (in a lovely bottle she found at the local Dollar General), chocolate, bubble wands and candy for the children, and a bouquet of flowers. (There might have been something else, but I forget what.) This lady recently lost her father to COVID, so this was a pleasant surprise to her.

    Liked by 2 people

  70. I suspect race relations have deteriorated as people have grown up thinking they are victims from our government programs. Back in the day, after the Civil Rights days, people had common goals. Then they were told they were wrong with uncle Tom attitudes. Personally, I think uncle Tom had a good attitude, he thought people were all equal.

    Liked by 2 people

  72. Mumsee, I think that “race baiters” (people who whisper about all white people being racist and all of them secretly hating you) haven’t helped anything.

    I don’t think that the vast majority of white people are racist; I think most are not. All people have biases, but that is different from racism. Stereotypes are also different from racism (with some overlap). National pride is not racism. Many things get lumped into it unfairly.

    Unfortunately there are a lot of people who have made money and fame off the continuation of racism, which is not at all helpful. Racism is a sin that will continue as long as this earth continues, though.

    Liked by 1 person

  73. LA City curfew has been at 8 p.m. but now the countywide curfew has been applied and that’s for 6 p.m.

    LAPD officers in our town told someone they were getting flipped off and things thrown at them. And apparently there’re some looting and broken windows in Long Beach next door to us, one of my favorite stores there (a fun hardware store with all kinds of Christmas things every year) is boarding up tonight.

    Could tonight be worse? I keep hoping this will start to lose steam, but it’s getting more intense, or so it seems.

    Liked by 2 people

  74. And about guns, our pastor mentioned the Asian family who defended their store and home (they lived above) during the 1992 riots with guns.

    I remember my cousin, who at the time lived in a condo in downtown Long Beach, was up on the roof with some other residents, armed, during the 1992 protests also.

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  76. Just an hour and a half till June! That’s my favorite month. Under normal circumstances, my church’s VBS would be starting tomorrow. The CE committee postponed it, and tomorrow will revisit whether to hold it at all this year. I suspect the parents on the committee, and the wife of a doctor (she’s also a parent of young children) will have the best feel for it, but my hunch is we won’t hold it this year. Just too much uncertainty, and too hard to go from zero (no Sunday school, worship services with a lot of stipulations) to sixty in six weeks. VBS takes a lot of people in a little space for a lot of hours, and my hunch is most of us aren’t ready for that yet.

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  77. Watching rioters on tv in Sacramento try to shut down the interstate. Actually they did, but the police rapidly moved in to open it up again. I have been overseas and have not seen this before. Praying as I watch for the officers and the folks stuck in their cars with protesters right next to them.

    Liked by 1 person

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