We in the state of Georgia have now joined 36 other states that have a stay-at-home order. The order will be in place until April 13th, though I suspect it is going to last longer.
Our schools have been closed for the rest of the year, and parents, teachers, and kids all over the state are heartbroken. In my county, digital learning will continue for the rest of the year.
My son is on home for spring break. This evening he’s come to me several times with news of the death of songwriter Adam Schlesinger, who wrote music for Bubble Guppies, a Nick Jr. show Matthew’s become fond of. When I looked him up, I discovered that he’d written the songs “Stacy’s Mom” and “That Thing You Do”. Schlesinger died of complications from COVID-19.
A woman in my church also has the virus and is isolated at home.
And daily, I see the arguments between stay at home/lockdown orders and getting people back to work so that the economy can recover. It seems that Democrats want the lockdowns and Republicans want the economy. I personally found Donald Trump’s call to “pack the churches” on Easter as much of a violation of the Third Commandment as I would find someone saying “G—d—“. I don’t think he cares as much about “packing the churches” as he does being known as the president who got people to “pack the churches”. And he’s suggesting this at a time when it’s just not wise for people to be gathering in large groups. If infection rates were going down, if we had evidence that people were not getting ill or infected in large numbers, then I’d want to go back to church on Easter. I love the symbolism. But this is not the Easter to do it.
When I commented on a discussion thread that “we can rebuild an economy but we can’t bring back the dead,” someone sarcastically responded that, “I guess that’s why it’s okay to still keep having abortions.”
Frankly, I am tired. I am weary. My morale is in the toilet today. I was able to get out, have an endocrinologist’s appointment, and yell, “Score!” to a woman leaving Aldi with her arms full of toilet paper. She laughed and said, “Yes!” in response. I was able to get groceries today. I can be home with my husband and with my son. We’re not ill and I pray we do not become ill. We have food. We can eat.
But, to be honest, I am just weary of the mounting infection toll, the mounting death toll, and yesterday, when we were told to expect deaths in the hundreds of thousands, that’s when the fear started creeping in, these tentacles of fear that just wrap themselves around my heart and around my mind.
And I am weary of the lies and of the mistrust among so many people.
The Chinese government apparently lied about the spread of the virus. That doesn’t really shock me.
Trump is being criticized about his response, and/or lack thereof, to this virus.
State governors and other officials are being either lauded or criticized for their response or lack thereof. Today, when Georgia governor Brian Kemp and Florida governor Ron DeSantis finally put in a statewide “stay at home” order, it was partially in response to those who have criticized them for not doing so before.
On the other hand, I have seen posts about how telling us that we can’t gather together at church or in other places is “totalitarianism”, and there are those that fear that since the government now knows how easy it is to get people to obey a directive to stay at home, and how easy it is to incite fear among the population, they are not going to hesitate to use such power again and again.
I have been weary and cynical for a very long time. The Democrats lie. So do the Republicans. They accuse each other of lying. The media lie, and the alternate media lie, and they accuse each other of lying. Religious leaders lie, and the worst religious leaders are those who use the name of God and the name of Jesus to lie. The Bible says that God does not lie, and I believe that. Unfortunately, people can, have, and do lie using the name of God.
I am weary of trying to sort out the truth from the lies, and the facts from the truth. Dealing with a son who perceives the world differently than many people does not help, either. It all takes more energy than I have these days.
Today, my snarky humor just isn’t doing it for me.
Let’s take a deep breath, everyone:
It’s the end of the world as we know it
It’s the end of the world as we know it
It’s the end of the world as we know it
And I feel fine!
Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.
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