Pen-demic

This evening’s newscast had another story about the latest developments in the battle against Covid and the citizens of the United States have become divided between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated. The disease of my childhood was infantile paralysis or as it is more commonly known, polio. All over the United States, the summer months were considered the most dangerous time of year when people were most likely to sicken with this devastating illness. The photographs of polio patients in an iron lung were frightening to all. The most famous person who suffered from the aftereffects of polio was the New York Governor, Franklin Roosevelt. The most well-known treatment for polio victims was the Sister Kinney method. One summer when I was in middle school was a particularly bad year for the disease. Among the many resulting restrictions was the summer closure of the public swimming pool where my family lived. My younger sister, Kathy, needed to have her tonsils removed, but the surgery ...

  WAITING SEASON To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under Heaven.  Eccl. 3:1 First it was football season when most conversations included a comment about a favorite team, the time for the games on the weekend.  Next came the holiday season with plans for putting up house decorations, present purchases, special meals, the worship service schedules.  Then came the beginning of another year and the waiting season.  That’s where I am stuck just now. I am just waiting for Spring and some signs of new life.  I am waiting for our national politics to change for the better.  I am waiting for the distribution of the vaccine and a time when the COVID-19 pandemic is more controlled.  And my patience is wearing thin. So, what did the ancient poet of the Old Testament have to say.  All in good time.   Good things come to those who wait.  To everything there is a seaso...