Sunday, October 4, 2020
Last week when the State Health Department reported close to 500 new Covid-19 cases, we gasped. It happened so quickly. Now the State is reporting 957 new cases – and the contact tracing for Trump’s fund-raising event in Bedminster is just getting underway. The transmission rate is.1.27 which means the infection rate is expanding.
This is the highest rate since May 29 when 1,117 cases were reported. It is important not to be lax just because fewer than 500 persons were hospitalized. Who knows how many of the 957 will be hospitalized? The toll from Trump now includes Chris Christie.
In the midst of all this, we must remember that there are many who are still without work and are barely scraping by. October has been the traditional month for Crop Walk to raise funds for the needy, and there are many who suffer from “food insecurity.” What a euphemism for hunger. While the wealthy get their first-class medical care we need to remember those who have little or no access to medical care or food.
Prayer for the Day
God of all times and places, we struggle to understand the world,
For sometimes we find ourselves in the desert of confusion;
Searching for water, we pray to leave the barren wastes
And to find the springs of understanding.
Refresh our lives with the water that can only come from you
As we try to live as faithful witnesses of your word.
In the name of him who was your most faithful witness,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
There are people in the world so hungry that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.
Mahatma Gandhi, peaceful revolutionary (1869–1948)
Hunger has a lifelong impact, shaping not only someone’s relationship with food but also their health and the health of their community. Hunger, real hunger, provokes desperation and leads to choices that would otherwise be unfathomable.
Mikki Kendall, Hood Feminism, American social critic
Listen to me, you that pursue righteousness,
you that seek the Lord.
Look to the rock from which you were hewn,
and the quarry from which you were dug.
Look to Abraham your father
and to Sarah who bore you; . . .
Listen to me, you who know righteousness,
you people who have my teaching in your hearts;
do not fear the reproach of others,
and do not be dismayed when they revile you.
Isaiah 51:1–2a, 7