It didn't really occur to me until much later. I woke up on November 6 achy all over. I mean, we all have our aches and pains, but this was different. I just hurt everywhere. This went on for a few days and then, Saturday night, the 9th of November, I got extremely nauseous. I was so sick I had to cancel worship on Sunday morning. (We have no Elders or deacons to call on, so we called it off.) Sunday and then into Monday I was terribly sick. When that abated, I became congested and started living on NyQuil. This past Sunday came and we had worship, but I didn't allow anyone near me. Monday I went to the store, but that little activity just about killed me. I had a regular doctor's visit on Tuesday morning and I thought about canceling. But on Tuesday morning, after almost two weeks, I felt a little better. So, off to the doctor I went.

Halfway there, the thought popped into my mind, 'maybe this was COVID!' As I thought about it, I remembered Christmas last year. I did have COVID then with the same symptoms and for about the same amount of time. Immunity and inoculations do not work because they tell us the virus mutates. Whatever. But I realized I needed to tell them at the office of the symptoms.

I got to the doctor's office and went to the counter and announced I was there for my appointment. The girl behind the desk asked the standard question, HAVE YOU HAD ANY COVID SYMPTOMS OVER THE LAST TWO WEEKS? So, I told her my tale. I mean, I was standing there wiping my nose. Hard to lie in that circumstance. When I was done, this bright, young lady stared at me for a second or two, and then said, "Well, we aren't going to make a big deal out of that."

I went and sat down and an older gentleman, who had heard the exchange, laughed and said, "Four and a half years ago someone in a haz-mat suit would have slapped you on a gurney and shoved a swab up your nose while someone else warmed up a respirator! Times have changed!" We sat there and talked for about ten minutes about how things have changed. Some of it was laughable, most of it was sad and some of it, like the COVID scare, was just silly.

On the way home I worked it over in my mind again. Donald Trump was elected in 2016 and immediately upon taking office, he set about putting people back to work. The economy had been sputtering, but within two years people were working. African-Americans reached their highest employment rate in decades. There was a real pride. America was working. Detractors made up stories about Mr. Trump, which were later debunked. But there was nothing else to attack with. 

And then COVID came. No one knew how to react, so the extremists won the day. The country was shut down. Many of those new jobs were in start-up companies, and they didn't have the financial ability to wait out the shut down, so many, many closed up. Jobs were lost, the economy crashed. Government began issuing stimulus checks. Mr. Trump was blamed and he lost his re-election bid in 2020. A huge segment of society reverted to letting government sustain them and pride in country dwindled.

Another political blog? Not at all. The above is just a listing of facts. I really do pray the country rights itself. But there is something here for all of us, as well. The doctor's office is in Willoughby, Ohio. As I drove out of Willoughby, I passed a church I had once served as an interim pastor at during my time at the funeral home. It was a church in trouble. Right on the main drag in a bustling town, it was in danger of closing due to people leaving. The big argument was traditional/contemporary music. And, do we put the songs and announcements on the big screen. It was getting pretty heated. So, in the time I was there, we had many meetings. My answer was always the same; if you want to grow, you have to actually get out and witness. Share the Gospel. Don't expect your 90 minute Sunday morning to grow the church. The government was in the same malaise then that we have seen the last four years, and I compared the government to the church and the people. Most people will take anything the government will hand out to them and they are satisfied. And, if the church can grow without any effort coming from the people, they will take it. The arguments in that church all ended with, "if we do this, folks will come!"

Praying with a co-worker, slipping someone a $20 dollar bill so they can put gas in the car to get to work, cutting someone's grass when thy cannot. And, of course, telling someone about the saving power of Jesus. If you tell the story, the Spirit will begin to work.

As I passed this church, I thought about what I had recently heard. By selling off some property, they had bought some time. Their denomination was helping some. They dropped the name of their denomination because they figured the bad press of the denomination was to blame. They finally settled on music, and half the church left. They had done everything the way the new growth books said to do them. And the church is still gasping for life.

Over the last year I have seen so many pictures of grandkids! Yes, here, see my grandson! I am so proud of him! And that is all good. But there needs to be a renewal of pride in our Savior.

Be proud and tell the story.