COVID-19: We May See an Increase of Suicides. What Albert Camus Said We Should Offer Those in Pain.


Wikipedia

“But, you know, I feel more fellowship with the defeated than with saints. Heroism and sanctity don’t really appeal to me, I imagine. What interests me is being a man.” ― Albert Camus, The Plague


The following post is not to be taken as an endorsement of any political person, solution or endeavor to bring an end to unemployment and the pandemic during this time. Remember, do not use this as an opportunity to discuss any current political figures.


.For the next 7 days, my husband will be the cardiologist covering the local Duke hospital. The coronavirus often causes cardiac complications. It is highly likely my husband will have direct contact with patients who have the virus. He said that the problem with this virus is that it is highly infectious, more so than the flu.

This being the case, he will be self isolating in our house for the next week. Thankfully we have a room on one side of the house with a bathroom. I can tell you that the infectious nature of this virus is a cause for concern amongst medical people. You can be sure that most health professionals are concerned about their personal safety.

However there is another concern that is gaining the attention of medical folks as they deal with this virus. We talked about this extensively over the weekend.

Today, I listened to two people who discussed their employment status on various talk shows.

Person #1 is a PA (Physicians Assistant)

She has lost her job. She’s been working for years in a practice which does a number of kidney transplants. You may be surprised to learn that there are only a scattered few transplants occurring. All major hospitals have issued a halt for  *nonessential* or non emergent care coming into a facility. This is due to the intense preparation based on the idea that hospitals will become overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients.

Would it surprise you to learn that most hospitals are not full as was anticipated? Most physicians have switched to telemedicine, seeing and discussing the patient’s concerns remotely. They have been told to hold on most testing that is not emergently needed. Sounds pretty good, right? For many practices, this has caused their income to plummet. So what, right? But think about it … that means there is little need for ancillary personnel during this time. Many are being furloughed, like the kidney transplant PA. A practice which has 7 busy doctors can have between 70-100 employees.

This is happening even in Boston which has risen to #3 in the nation for people with COVID-19. Other patients are being told to avoid coming to the hospital except for a dire emergency. Except…many beds are not filling as expected and that is at one of the leading hospitals in the area. Some nurses are being asked if they are willing to fill in in other areas that are not their specialty. Many nurses who worked in clinics are furloughed. Clinics are often considered nonessential during this pandemic.

Person #2 worked for a well known, high end clothing store.

This person was a unexpectedly furloughed and has been told that his job may not return due to the sharp decline in sales. This business had run for some time with a slim margin of profits over costs. Not only will this person be out of a job, the entire business may not be able to recover if the *stay at home* orders continue for a length of time. This person was quite emotional in discussing his severe depression being caused by this situation.

Just in time supply chains

For many years, most companies have not keep a large supply of items in their warehouses. They discovered there was no need to keep vast quantities of things such as paper towels in warehouses *just in case.* You can read about this in the Atlantic: The Modern Supply Chain Is Snapping: The coronavirus exposes the fragility of an economy built on outsourcing and just-in-time inventory.

We’ve built a global supply chain that runs on outsourcing and thin margins, and the coronavirus has exposed just how delicate it is. “I guess we’ve done a good enough job within the health-care supply chain of getting pricing down to the point that the vendors don’t have a lot of extra margin or slack to play with,” Watkins said. So when demand spikes, everyone feels it.

This is partially why we have scarce toilet paper and hospital personnel do not have enough gloves and masks. This morning, while moving some cleaners on a shelf, I discovered a huge, unopened container of Lysol Wipes. I’m sure the neighbor heard me whopping it up like I’d won the lottery. Google Lysol Wipes and your will see what I mean. One large container is currently selling for about $75 on Ebay.

Unemployment claims are off the charts.

Unemployment claims near 17 million in three weeks as coronavirus ravages economy

The claims, for the week ending April 4, flooded in as confirmed coronavirus cases approached 300,000 and as nearly every state ordered its citizens to stay at home. Economic forecasts that predict unemployment will exceed its historic 25 percent peak during the Great Depression are becoming routine, and the number of jobs lost in a mere three weeks now exceeds the 15 million that it took 18 months for the Great Recession to bulldoze from 2007 to 2009.

It is being compared to the Great Depression… So what happens when such a shift is seen?

It is highly likely that the suicide rate will skyrocket.

Here is an article from the highly respected Scientific American: COVID-19 Is Likely to Lead to an Increase in Suicides: The psychosocial repercussions of this crisis could make the tragedy even worse.

Just like a pandemic became a reality for the first time in more than a century, in a destructive “life imitating art imitating life” way, news of suicides linked to the COVID-19 crisis have swept the globe and sadly show no signs of abating.

…a British 19-year-old, is likely the youngest suicide victim of this epidemic. She hadn’t been diagnosed with the virus or reported any symptoms. Rather, the announcement of the lockdown and the impending isolation petrified her.

The article compared this to Albert Camus’ The Plague. (If you haven’t read this, plan to do so.)

Camus fictional account of an outbreak of the bubonic plague in the town of Oran now holds eerie similarity to reality: the gates of the city were closed, quarantines were imposed, the citizens were isolated from each other. He aptly compares the plight of the inhabitants to imprisonment

The article compared today to the Great Depression.

The economic crisis may not cause as many deaths as COVID-19, but the high rates of unemployment, poverty and homelessness will all cause the suicide risk to surge. And indeed, suicides tend to go up during periods of economic downturn: the suicide rate rose to a record high of 21.9 per 100,000 people in 1932, in the depth of the Great Depression.

So what do we do to respond to the pain of that many are experiencing during this time?

  • Call your loved ones regularly. Calling isolated elders folks at least twice a day is a recommendation by Dr Marc Siegel. I watched him discuss how his 90+ father contracted COVID-19 and survived. He expressed concern for the effects of isolation on the elderly which can lead to severe depression. I am not allowed to see my elderly mother in her independent elderly community unless I am filling her pillbox for the week. Thankfully, no one has gotten sick in that community due to the quick thinking of the director. But, they are all confined to their apartments except to don masks to spend a few minutes in the sun. My mother and I speak at least 3x day.
  • We need to reach out to those we know who are isolated and offer them hope and love. Camus questions, through his main character, physician Bernard Rieux, whether in the aftermath of so much suffering, humanity can find a peace of mind. Offering a glimpse of hope, Camus concludes that we can, as “if there is one thing one can always yearn for, and sometimes attain, it is human love.”
  • Reach out to those who are often overlooked. I got an idea from someone else. I have a basket ion my doorstep with a note to those who deliver my mail and those who still cut my grass. In the basket are paper towels, toiled paper, water bottles, hand sanitizer along with a note expressing my appreciation for what they do.
  • Do not ignore hints of suicide. That is considered an emergency and medical care is available to those who are suffering.

Here is an important number.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

1-800-273-8255

Finally, my husband and I have been most grateful for our church which has continued services online. We have been sitting out on our back porch, following the liturgy and listening to the sermons and Scripture readings. We’ve found much peace and strength from this outreach and are grateful to our pastors.

Their thoughtfulness has helped me to understand how Mark Dever/9Marks missed an opportunity to show love and hope in their refusal to do services and, instead, reflect on God’s chastisement…alone. They have made up rules upon rules and none of them are found in the Bible. Frankly, he just seem lazy to me. I’m so glad to be amongst those pastors who know how to bring support their own during this time.

Comments

COVID-19: We May See an Increase of Suicides. What Albert Camus Said We Should Offer Those in Pain. — 59 Comments

  1. The world is in for a “long haul”….. This post hits one of many, many issue which will emerge out of this….. and, as we are seeing, many that claim to be “Christians” are not all acting as Christ would…. so begins a great testing..

    However, throughout history, during time of great trial, great leaders also emerge…. I am mildly excited who they will be this time.. and what they will do..

  2. I volunteer in the media side for a suicide intervention/prevention/education charity.

    This past week requests for help went up 50%.

    At the very beginning of mandated self-isolation the charity was contacted by a fire department. A father died by suicide, leaving his wife and four children.
    The charity was able to enlist local agencies to assist, and remains in touch with the family remotely. As I mentioned online requests are going up quickly. It is the same for other charities and agencies in this field.

    Disaster specialists talk about the first trauma in an event/disaster, and then the second trauma in recovery from the event.
    We know from SARS that 58% of SARS patients and health care workers met the criteria for PTSD. With Covid-19, trauma fallout is hitting the whole population, as will recovery trauma.

    With Covid-19 as you mention above, a list of cascading issues push people to the edge. Job-loss, identity loss, peer contact loss, grieving death of loved ones, economic hardship, loss of hope, uncertainty over the future, domestic tensions, loneliness, stress, increased addiction, helplessness etc.

    One of the best ways to help someone is active listening.

    As Dee notes, if that person expresses suicidal idealization, encourage them reach out to qualified people whether its a help line or online. If they can’t reach out, and move into attempt, call emergency services.

  3. When a loved one was in crisis, I called the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. They helped me to understand what I was seeing, and to work out a couple of plans to secure help for my loved one. The counselor was very skilled and comforting.

    Mental health services are now fielding higher numbers of calls. If you call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, you might end up on hold for a little while, or the call might even get dropped. Please persist. You will receive help. Here is their URL:

    https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

  4. Pingback: COVID-19: We May See an Increase of Suicides. What Albert Camus Said We Should Offer Those in Pain. – The Great Healthcare List

  5. Brian,

    Such beautiful verses, Brian. Thank you.

    Will you please post the full verses from your favored translation, and maybe say how you apply them to this time through which we are passing? (I need to sign off for now.)

  6. Dee, thanks for sharing these stories, about the PA, the clothing store employee, your cardiologist husband, about yourself, your daughter earlier, your family. Very helpful for understanding and growing in empathy with what our own friends, families, neighbors, and communities may be experiencing. We can pray & communicate with others during these challenging times, in a more informed way. And we hold these people you mentioned, in our prayers, too.

  7. Dee, thank you for compassionately highlighting the multifaceted impact of this situation and for your encouragement to keep reaching out in love and looking up in hope.

  8. A friend of mine is a PA at an urgent care clinic, and her hours have been drastically cut back, because business is way down. Surreal. My mother has early to mid-stage dementia and lives with her husband in a senior living community. We kids have a rotating schedule of checking in with her by phone every day because this epidemic has isolated them from all normal activities. My husband is considered non-essential and could retire if he wanted to, but we have decided it is better for him to go back to work when it is safe so that we will have more income to be able to help our family and community when things start getting back to normal. Or rather, to the new normal – when so many people will be struggling and need help from their loved ones and neighbors.

  9. Fascinating post, Dee. Here are some questions that I would have regarding the true cost in lives of COVID-19, beyond the immediate deaths from the virus itself.

    1. If kidney transplants and perhaps other transplants are put on hold for now, what is happening to cadaver kidneys, livers, hearts, lungs, etc.? This would be not just an incalculable harm to those waiting for transplants, but also to donor families who will be robbed of the comfort that organ donation can offer grieving families.

    2. In August, 2018, I was diagnosed with lung cancer, stage 1. Surgery was scheduled for the earliest possible date, which because of the availability of the robot deemed necessary for the type of surgery, ended up being in mid-October (originally scheduled for November but moved up because of cancellations). By the time the surgery was performed, I was no longer stage 1, but had progressed to stage 2B or 3, depending on the oncologist evaluation. My treatment then required a rather brutal chemotherapy course, whereas if I had had the surgery while stage 1, no chemo would have been necessary (no lymph node involvement in stage 1). How many cancer patients are having their surgeries delayed, how many will unnecessarily die prematurely because their disease progressed while being put on hold for the ‘predicted’ tidal wave (Gov. DeWine of Ohio’s term for the peak COVID-19 cases) that may not happen. The models, especially IHME, seem to be very imprecise. BTW, with much gratefulness, I am currently cancer free, and hope that story continues but I am mindful that many will not share that story.

    3. How many will die of heart disease because ‘elective’ heart procedures are not being done at present. I was a cardiopulmonary technologist in my previous career–heart surgeries that are considered emergent have much poorer outcomes than those that would be considered ‘elective’.

    Dee, again, a great article. It may well be that the death toll among those without the virus due to suicide and delay of what we would consider normal interventional medicine may end up higher than the death toll of those tragically taken by the virus itself. History will be the judge.

  10. Cousin of Eutychus,

    The ramification will just keep adding up…..
    there is talk that their will be significant drop in University attendance…… now, oh course, some people might think this good, but overall, decrease in education is not a good thing….
    and, given the rate of infection, and death, is higher in medical personnel, could very well be shortages of medical personnel in the future, which will more broadly impact the population, and on and on….

  11. We have recently had an uptick in suicides from what I have heard in our local community. I have been praying for my community for healing and needs being met and for God to work among the believers to live out our faith.
    I am not rich nor poor ( hours cut to part time) but I have found myself to be more generous in giving money to food banks and friends during these times I really don’t know why that is, but I am sleeping better, go figure.
    I have asked God to bring people into my sphere to help and he has. I called a single mom that I hadn’t thought of in several months to see if she needed help but she told me she and her children are fine.

    I think if we make ourselves available to people, God will send them our way through divine appointments etc. Giving to food banks, which are having difficulty due to panic buying is another way to help. I think people need kindness and examples of patience. I blew it yesterday when a person cut in front of me at the McDonalds drive through line, I really let them have it verbally. Not a good moment to say the least ( hence no crosses etc on my car to indicate I am a Christ follower) but I am forgiven and with His help will do better next time.

    A couple of sayings help me stay positive mentally
    during this pandemic so I leave them with you;

    GOD IS ON HIS THRONE
    EVERYTHING IS GOING ACCORDING TO HIS PLAN
    GOD LOVES ME

    A couple from the late Corrie Ten Boom

    YOU CAN TRUST AN UNKNOWN FUTURE TO A KNOWN GOD

    OUR FATHER KNOWS OUR NEEDS AND THE TIME WE NEED IT SO DON’T OUTRUN HIM.

  12. Cousin of Eutychus,

    If a person is at the top of the transplant list due to imminent concern for death, that would be considered an emergency. However, I have no idea what is happening to those organs which have been donated by those who have passed away. I am going to try to find an answer.

    I am so grateful that you are doing well. I stopped and prayed for your continued well being.

  13. Cousin of Eutychus: what is happening to cadaver kidneys, livers, hearts, lungs, etc.?

    I don’t know that answer. However, in some states, the medical examiners are not currently accepting any bodies donated for science. This means no cadaver study for medical students, as well as a halt to research that requires cadavers.

  14. Friend:
    Brian,

    Such beautiful verses, Brian. Thank you.

    Will you please post the full verses from your favored translation, and maybe say how you apply them to this time through which we are passing?

    I second that. Too many Christians just recite the “Zip Codes” instead of the actual words.
    Like it’s some sort of Sooper Sekrit Code for the in-crowd.
    It’s another of my pet peeves.

  15. Chuck: EVERYTHING IS GOING ACCORDING TO HIS PLAN

    If this helps you, good. However, I have never belonged to a tradition that preaches about God’s perfect plan. That idea silences people who are suffering, and even gives God credit for evil.

    A verse that might help some people now is “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). Jesus failed to arrive in time to save the life of his friend Lazarus, and had to face the dead man’s profoundly upset family. Jesus did raise Lazarus from the dead… but the family’s anger and grief, and Jesus’ own sorrow, form much of the story.

  16. dee,

    thank you, dee, for this very thoughtful blogpost. thank you for time you took to read, get informed, process information, and present it.

  17. In these days I have found a reliable litmus test for leadership, namely who is actually already a blind leader leading others who are also blind, as Jesus warned us so clearly about. The test is simple. Do they claim that God is not behind the plague? The worst say that they are certain God does not do such things. Those trying to ride the fence will just say that they doubt God is behind it, or that their personal opinion is that He is not. The wise simply quote what is already in the scriptures and let God do the talking. This scripture is God actually talking directly to His people:

    “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chron. 7:13

  18. It just occurs to me here that the medical professionals in this fight are every bit as brave as the B-17 crews who fought the air war over Germany all those years ago.
    My father was among them.

  19. Along with suicides being up, child abuse and physical abuse is also rising. Children whose only relief was being at school, now are all day with their abusers. Wives who had an outlet at work, are now home with their abuser all day. My son-in-law told me that in the area they live in, these rates have risen dramatically. My son and I talk a lot too. He lost a good friend this past weekend due to health problems that were unrelated to the virus. We had long talks about his friend and how he was spending Easter with Jesus. My big family and I are in constant touch. We all check on each other constantly. We all know this is so important to us. I have a good friend that I talk with usually daily. We are all doing our best to make sure none of us fall thru the cracks and are left without support if they need it.

  20. My wife and I are really lucky so far. Her medical job hasn’t been put on hold or anything (she starts seeing patients via video-link tomorrow), and my job doing HVAC design is going strong. Most of the workers in my home office are working from home (I’m a permanent remote worker), and business is still coming in (at least for now). Our local dance community is keeping in touch via email, which is better than nothing. Best of all, we have a close friend from dance in Gainesville who came down with covid (and he had pre-existing COPD), he was in the ICU for 10+ days and on the ventilator for 8 days, and he got released a few days ago. We were preparing to hear of his death, but the doctors and nurses kept him alive.

    When I think about how much this isolation stinks, it occurs to me what it would’ve been like to go through this 25 years ago without the robust internet service that we’ve got nowadays.

  21. Harley: We are all doing our best to make sure none of us fall thru the cracks

    Thanks for sharing what works in your family. We are doing a lot of texting, with the understanding that people don’t need to respond right away. I’ve been sending insights to the young folks. The underlying message is that this situation is odd, scary, and temporary. Humor helps too.

    Forgive me if this is a repeat comment: outdoor exercise, and driving for relaxation, are allowed in most places, specifically to reduce the risk that people feel trapped and start to argue in dangerous ways. Going out can help alleviate depression too.

  22. dee:
    Cousin of Eutychus,

    If a person is at the top of the transplant list due to imminent concern for death, that would be considered an emergency. However, I have no idea what is happening to those organs which have been donated by those who have passed away. I am going to try to find an answer.

    I am so grateful that you are doing well. I stopped and prayed for your continued well being.

    Thank you, Dee! That means much to me.

  23. Friend: That idea silences people who are suffering, and even gives God credit for evil.

    A very old belief in Christianity is God’s impassibilty (see: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impassibility).
    While it makes logical sense it feels very wrong. Jesus showed emotions and also claimed he only did what he saw the Father doing. Did he fake it or lie? I suspect the docteine of impassibility crept in during the early years when Greek philosophers were becoming Christians. I think the effect it has on Christians today is causing many to think that emotions and passions are ungodly. As if it is unholy for us to get bothered when others suffer because “God does not experience pain or pleasure from the actions of another being.” I suppose I am a heretic because I find this doctrine so terribly deficient.

  24. Brian,

    Romans 12:10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;

    Romans 12:15-16 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.

    Hebrews 13:1-3 Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.

    1 Corinthians 12:26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.

    God’s blessings to all.

  25. Ken F (aka Tweed): Jesus showed emotions and also claimed he only did what he saw the Father doing. Did he fake it or lie?

    Countless times I’ve heard that Jesus came to experience the fullness of human life. A theology of absolutes isn’t compatible with the idea of a loving and compassionate Jesus.

  26. Ken F (aka Tweed): A very old belief in Christianity is God’s impassibilty (see: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impassibility).
    While it makes logical sense it feels very wrong. Jesus showed emotions and also claimed he only did what he saw the Father doing. Did he fake it or lie? I suspect the docteine of impassibility crept in during the early years when Greek philosophers were becoming Christians. I think the effect it has on Christians today is causingmany to think that emotions and passions are ungodly. As if it is unholy for us to get bothered when others suffer because “God does not experience pain or pleasure from the actions of another being.” I suppose I am a heretic because I find this doctrine so terribly deficient.

    Stoicism – another pagan philosophy that has crept into Christianity

  27. I have been concerned about the loneliness problem ever since the isolation has been mandated. My main social contacts have ceased. The library is closed, the churches are closed, even the food bank where I work is closed. (it is church based and the pastor did want us to do it, even though we could have done it while maintaining social distance)

    This afternoon, I reached out to some friends that I haven’t seen in a while.

    It is challenging, but I am grateful that I am still working (1/2 at the moment), and can attend church at one of my favorite places. By watching the facebook comments, I am humbled by the range of folks that come and worship. Because it is a monastic community that I have joined tangibly a number of times, it is better than just with a solitary priest.

  28. Ken F (aka Tweed): I suspect the docteine of impassibility crept in during the early years when Greek philosophers were becoming Christians.

    I do too.
    Greek Hellenism (Aristotle, Plato, Pythagoras, the list is long) has a long tradition of setting aside ideals of perfectionism, an idealism that is unachievable, but must be striven for nonetheless.
    The Apostle Paul’s writings are redolent with it.

  29. Anna A,

    I am alone at home-really alone now because I had to put my 18-year old cat to sleep today. But, I keep to a schedule, zoom with my students, walk around the neighborhood and I’m doing some projects around the house. Reaching out to friends and family is important. I also try to limit my screen time to just s couple pre-selected evening programs. I start and end the day in the Word and prayer because I know God is always listening.

    When I can’t stand it anymore, I jump in the car, take a little drive, and head for the drive-thru and a cheeseburger!

  30. Linn,

    I’m so sorry about your dear old cat. But it’s good to know that you have developed a routine that helps you. Our household also has a routine. Among other things, it helps me know the time, and the day of the week!

  31. Linn:
    Anna A,

    I am alone at home-really alone now because I had to put my 18-year old cat to sleep today. But, I keep to a schedule, zoom with my students, walk around the neighborhood and I’m doing some projects around the house. Reaching out to friends and family is important. I also try to limit my screen time to just s couple pre-selected evening programs. I start and end the day in the Word and prayer because I know God is always listening.

    When I can’t stand it anymore, I jump in the car, take a little drive, and head for the drive-thru and a cheeseburger!

    Linn:

    I am so sorry to read that you had to say goodbye to your cat. It is never easy losing a friend and companion. I believe your cat is whole, happy and pain free, running about and waiting for you, I wonder if there is lots of catnip in heaven? =^..^=

  32. Linn,

    I am so sorry about the loss of your cat. I lost one of mine end of January. My other one seems content and has taken over spaces that she couldn’t before, like my bed.

  33. Friend,

    I am doing well, partly because I am still working, and at my current job, much better folks than the one before.

    I also am part hermit with a large( think 17 x 25 cross stitch project) and about 300 tangible books to read.

    But one of the things that I am most grateful for is the live streaming of some of the services at St. Meinrad. They might be shut in, I am shut out, but via the Internet we are together.

    (If you wonder why I say some, is that being a monastery, they assemble for praying the hours about 5 times a day. They only live stream Mass and Vespers)

  34. Yes we need to be vigilant , living , caring for those who don’t have the Covid-19 virus. None the less, their world has collapsed.

    We know ( since a young girl ) a PA who has been furloughed, whose father passed away 3 weeks ago. ( no funeral because of virus ) then her alcoholic brother passed away two weeks ago. Her mother died a few years back. She’s forty, has three young chidren.

    Between grief and financial stresses, this young women is a wreck. Many people are emotionally, financially devastated because of the Pandemic.

    While we are so thankful for physicisns, nurses, medical staff on the front lines giving their all to virus patients, we must remember and reach out to a young woman like our, Megan.

  35. Mae,

    Everyone around me is outside at unpredictable times, and many folks are walking. People seem to welcome “How are you today?” as a literal question. It’s easier to converse—from a safe distance, at least.

  36. Friend,

    Context of use of the posted verses:

    Having a neice who was cutting herself, a couple years ago, those verses is the only way I knew how to respond.

    Those considering suicide, they need to find again stability and structure.

  37. Brian: Having a neice who was cutting herself, a couple years ago, those verses is the only way I knew how to respond.

    Those considering suicide, they need to find again stability and structure.

    I hope your niece is doing better.

    Stay-at-home orders are creating new hardships, as Dee points out. And this is not a fair trade, but I’ll mention it anyway: staying at home can provide a certain kind of consistency. I know one person who has had to stop meeting a friend who was a source of instability.

    Someone close to me was already struggling before the pandemic. That family is carefully using this time to build up resiliency and promote self-knowledge. The work has to be loving, respectful, and sensitive, because folks are already kind of trapped, and pushing too hard could cause even worse problems.

    Thanks for sharing context of those beautiful verses. Hope you are faring better today.

  38. Mr. Jesperson,

    Thanks again for posting these.

    “Four individuals only were allowed to record from one place and ‘no singing or use of wind instruments, harmonicas or other instruments that could spread COVID-19 through projected droplets shall be permitted unless the recording of the event is done at one’s residence,’ according to the county order that also applies to concert halls, auditoriums, temples and playhouses.”

    What do you think?

    Al Mohler is trying to call this anti-Christian, but it’s more general. I would like to understand the decision-making process. It seems related to wearing homemade masks in public to protect others. Meanwhile it does remind me of a time I had front-row seats at a musical…

  39. Mr. Jesperson,

    Mr. Jesperson,

    FGM (female genital mutilation) IS NOT COVERED under religious freedom, nor is endangering the public health and safety.
    What don’t these people understand?
    Idiocy is hard to fathom, it really is.

  40. Mr. Jesperson: When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chron. 7:13

    Our province has done a pretty good job mitigating covid. I do not believe that this makes us any more or less holy. Lots of factors come into play, like population density.
    My wife’s sister and brother in law in New Jersey, & her cousin in Florida, frontline medical workers have all contracted covid. Mild symptoms, but still. These folks are devout Christians, as in walk the walk not talk the talk. I am at best christianish, I do good works but not so much in the faith department. Yet I’m very low risk to catch this.
    So the biblical logic isn’t to helpful.
    Covid is not a punishment, it’s self replicating DNA.
    I suppose in the big picture there’s lessons in this event, some of which have been discussed above regarding international travel, the environment, supply chains etc. But those affected are not being punished by God.
    I prefer the ‘love thy neighbor’ approach, if I were going to pick an aspect of Christian thought to apply.

  41. Jack: Covid is not a punishment, it’s self replicating DNA.

    Well it hijacks your cells to replicate, to be technically correct.

  42. One other affect of COVID-19 and the required social isolation that you hear about is an increase in Domestic Violence. Though certainly not justifying it, I can see how the circumstances could intensify this problem:

    – Having to stay home 24/7 with little opportunity to get out.
    – This is especially an issue where a lot of people are restricted to a much smaller space.
    – Reduced incomes create tension especially in households where they can’t buy sufficient food. It is harder when people are hungry.

    I imagine these circumstances typically are the fuel that drive some that would normally be more restrained in their actions. Again not justifying this but sadly seeing how it could happen.

  43. And now for something completely different:
    WEIRD ROBOCALL.

    Since I started having to work from home a month ago, I have been under telemarketer robocall siege. Five to ten a day. Up until now, the toppers were the three in a row to “call this number or your electricity will be disconnected” claiming to be from my city utilities. (I informed the REAL utilities Fraud division.)

    Just a couple minutes ago, I got a WEIRD one from “GA ST GOVT” (Georgia State Government) — two-three minutes in either Chinese or Vietnamese.

  44. Headless Unicorn Guy,
    Got the long Chinese robocall twice more during the day; one from an otherwise-unidentified number, the other from “FULTON COUNTY” something. I KNOW Fulton County is in Georgia (near Atlanta); am I getting a robocall for some sort of Chinese-language election in that state?

    And I’m pretty sure it’s Chinese not Vietnamese from the tone and rhythm.

  45. Mr. Jesperson: In these days I have found a reliable litmus test for leadership, namely who is actually already a blind leader leading others who are also blind, as Jesus warned us so clearly about. The test is simple. Do they claim that God is not behind the plague?

    Shouldn’t that be “Do they disagree with my Direct Private Revelation”?