Pen-demic

 by Judy Richardson January 19, 2021  Needing others we are lost  Epidemic trapped  Seeking God to see us through  I remember my grandmother’s last days. Ella Hanks had been a first grade teacher for many years. After she retired and Grandfather had died, she had time alone and she was very sad and told me how lonely it was without him to help her feel connected.  My Uncle George came to live with her and I know she enjoyed his company, but his eating habits drove her crazy. One day, she fell and hurt her shoulder. She had tripped over a table leg and fell. She said she was shocked that he appeared naked from his shower and immediately pulled her up to a standing position. It is possible that his “help” was what caused the damage to her shoulder.  My uncle was so afraid that she would fall again and he would not be able to help her properly that he insisted she enter the nursing home across the street.  Her days in the nursing home were long. When...

By Judy Richardson  December 15, 2020 Heather Cox Richardson stated today: “Yesterday, the official Twitter account of the Arizona Republican Party asked followers if they were willing to die to overturn the election, then posted a clip from the film “Rambo” in which the main character is threatening someone’s life, saying “This is what we do, who we are. Live for nothing, or die for something.”  It makes us uneasy. “How extensive are the forest fires Trump is leaving behind?” His scorched earth policy seems to be affecting all areas of government and radicalizing his followers. His contempt for the “Deep State” is obvious. But beyond that his callous regard for American citizens who do not kowtow to him is contemptible. It is clearly killing us in droves. Meanwhile he is profiting from his “attempt” to overturn our 2020 election. Who knows what will happen in Georgia, especially if Democrat senators are elected? Will there be Civil War?  This should be a season of Joy- n...

 by Judy Richardson  October 20, 2020  As a child I don’t remember fearing very many things. My most common nightmare was of having my brother sucked down a bathroom drain as I struggled to hang on to him. The dream would end without resolution. Years later my husband and I were needed to help him out of a crisis.  In Thursday morning Bible study we have been examining Dr. Seuss stories for scripturally inspired parallels. The last one was the “Butter Battle Book” about two groups of characters—one which buttered bread on top and one underneath. Because of their differences, they hated one another. They built a wall and then built gadgets to hurl and shoot at each other. Eventually they invented a doomsday weapon and the book ended without resolution, like our world’s MADD nuclear deterrent.  The ending brought to my mind 1963 and the Bay of Pigs incident. I was 14 and I remember the fear I felt from my father as he gathered food and placed it in our cellar in R...

 by Judy Richardson  September 1, 2020  There is so much to cry about today. It seems that joy is out of reach  I hear tears from a society torn asunder by racism, lies, corruption, hate and fear-mongering  I hear tears in the families of lost and dying children  I hear tears in the loss of Black men and women accosted in the streets and shot in their beds  I hear tears in families unable to work and feed their families.  I hear tears in food bank workers when they run out of food to give the needy  I hear tears in the police and the military called to attack unarmed protestors  I hear tears in the governors forced to issue mandates which neighboring states ignore  I hear tears in teachers forced to teach in person and risk their health  I hear tears in medical teams trying to save dying COVID patients  I hear tears of businessmen forced to close businesses that were their life’s dream  I hear tears in the loss of bel...

We thought you were just a lamb, a simple flu virus     But you weren’t We thought a couple of weeks stay-at-home would send you on your way      It didn’t We thought our leaders would help you on your way     They didn’t We thought our leaders would learn from scientists as they learned more instead of politicizing their wrong-headed original plans     They didn’t We thought that our world could get back to normal quickly     It couldn’t Thousands of people have died who could have been saved     They weren’t We thought that individuals would learn to wear masks willingly without coercion     They didn’t We thought you were a lamb We were wrong A lioness on the prowl, you will kill or cripple many more before you are done Immunity will save us, but when will it come? Judy Richardson

https://unsplash.com/@nhillier         I am numbed by numbers.         Numbers Infected.                  Numbers hospitalized.                        Numbers dead.             Those wanting freedom from number            People unfeeling, uncaring, unheeding of The old and the sick and the lonely and scared.   “Aren’t we all dying?” They say. “I’ll never get it!”                    Every night I dream that I am becoming sick, becoming a number.           Am I coughing?  Do I have a fever? Is my throat sore? Can I still taste and smell? Did I wash my hands enough?  Is my mask protecting others?  I pray f...

by Judy Richardson April 7, 2020 I am blessed but life is NOT the same. I want to attend Choir practice, attend St Mark, serve Communion, attend our book club meetings, attend Deacon meetings, attend Rachel Circle, go to Writers Life, potluck dinners, walk with friends, hug my daughter and her family. And I can’t do any of these things. Just because of a little microscopic organism which has hitchhiked its way around the whole world. Pandemic. We are learning. On-line buying is about the only way we can buy goods that aren’t groceries . If I want restaurant food, I have to order online or call the order in and pick it up. Mostly it is a little cold by the time I get it home. Ugh! I have decided to discontinue physical therapy for my shoulder. It is necessary for me to be in physical contact with my therapist and I am not the only one using the equipment. I will also not be seeing my chiropractor this week. Should I stay home? Maybe, maybe not, but I am most concerned about a ...