Our lives are being disrupted again. This time it’sthe Omicron variant which has caused long lines at testing centers – though at one center I saw people standing in line without masks! In the pet food store, only a few customers and the staff wore masks. Talk about courting disaster!
Many local school systems have returned to virtual learning for at least two weeks. That may be fine for mothers who can work remotely but many of our most vulnerable mothers need to be at places of work outside the home.
In the meantime, thanks to one Senator who drives a Maserati and has a yacht while his own state suffers, there is no federal mandate for family paid leave. West Virginia is the second poorest state, just above Mississippi. Even Alabama does better. As persons who say we follow Jesus’ call to social justice, we need to do better for all our people.
Prayer for the Day
Again, O God, we find ourselves fearful of the virus and others,
Our lives disrupted by numbers of the ill and dying;
Again, O Lord, we shudder as we use masks and wear gloves,
Our desire for shedding the physical reminders of illness.
We cry, as did the Psalmist, “Be with us in the midst of trouble.
Take not your Presence from us in this time.”
In the name of the One who is the sign of your Presence,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Epidemiologists are saying, “Easy tiger. This could be bad, very bad”. But we don’t know enough to roll the tape forward.
- William Hanage, epidemiologist at Harvard School of Public Health
Covid is a funhouse mirror amplifying issues that have existed forever. …People are dying of racism, of economic inequality, and it is not going to stop with COVID.
- Sheyra Kangovi, M.D., School of Public Health, University of Pennsylvania
Rouse yourself! Why do you sleep, O Lord? Awake, do not cast us off forever!
Why do you hide your face? Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?
For we sink down to the dust; our bodies cling to the ground.
Rise up; come to our help. Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love.
Psalm 44: 23-26