Un-Civil War

A side effect of the Covid-19 pandemic will be a civil war.

Not a war fought with guns, but with words.

It is an 'uncivil' war.  The rotten fruit of social media has ripened.  Everyone has their opinion (like me) on what everyone else should or should not be doing.  I'm guilty.  The battle ground is on all social media outlets, blogs, news stations and the like.

Jesus warns us brother against brother but I thought that was about the faith, not a virus.  Uncivility towards neighbor wounds the soul.

Words of war:

Wear a mask, don't wear a mask.
Vaccinate now, i'm not taking a vaccine.
Open up, stay closed.
Test me, don't test me.
My research is the correct one, no mine is.
It's about being pro-life, no, it's about freedom.

Satan loves division.

Are you guilty of dividing God's people?  Is your opinion really contributing to the betterment of mankind?  Opinions don't have to be in the form of your own written words, but sharing memes, liking comments, or spewing your opinion in anyway.  Yes, you should be informed and make your own decisions.  However, opinions are like belly buttons, everyone has one (someone pointed out to me the kind way to say that).

People are upset, I get it.  America is the greatest country in the world because we are based on freedom, God's total will for us is to freely choose.   Our freedoms have been limited these days and it's frustrating.  We do not have control and there's really little we can do about it. It's good some people are questioning how much is too much.  Ranting on social media isn't productive. Contact the people that can make a difference.

As I sit back with my bowl of popcorn and observe I have come up with these two questions:

What is it you are really fearing?
Can you allow yourself to suffer?

Fear

Death is scary, it is unknown.  Rightly justified to fear it.  Seeing loved ones die or the thought of dying yourself is a great cause for anxiety.  As Christians, we are taught to not fear death, embrace it, something better is after this life.  Martyrs across the timespan of the faith walked bravely to their deaths.  Tertillian said "the death of the martyrs is the seed of the faith."  Jesus rose FROM THE DEAD to show us he's the real deal.  There is a heaven.  I feel like we forget heaven. We get caught up in this world and live for this world when we are not made for this world.

Or maybe your fear is the loss of freedoms? Every day something we never dreamed of being taken away is being reported.  There is no consistency in what is allowed and not allowed. People are making up things as they go along.  It's to the point of ridiculousness.  Guess what, we don't have control.  Our freedom is under attack from this virus.  The freedom we still have is to choose how we react to it. Are you respectful to those who have to make these difficult decisions?  Or are you jerk who just flies off the handle adding to the uncivil discourse?  This verse provides me comfort.

"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If any one loves the world, love for the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world.  And the world passes away, and the lust of it, but he who does the will of God abides for ever." 1 John 2:15-17

Maybe along the lines of questioning fear is do you trust?  Do you trust that God will provide for your family if you pass away? Do you trust that you will go to heaven if you lived a life worthy of heaven?

I recently started keeping bees.  The first thought of being around the little stingers caused me fear.  The more I studied, I realized there's nothing to fear if you approach them correctly.  Gear up in your beesuit, be gentle with your movements, and smoke them if you open the hive.  I now sit next to the hive unsuited and can watch them buzz in and out of the hive for hours.  I have no fear. If I get stung, I'll only suffer a little.  I will be sad because my sweet bee will have gone to her death thinking I was going to harm her (they only get one sting and they die).  The point is I have conquered my fear.

Prudence my sweet bee.

The world will go on without you.  Your family will go on living.  Maybe now is the time to ask yourself what will I have left for the world?  A better place or a complete mess?  Maybe it is the time to ask yourself what is it that I really believe?  What is is that I truly fear?

Immunity 

Since this is my blog, I'm contributing to the 'uncivil' war I'll assert my opinion on the virus.

It is my humble, doesn't really matter, opinion that we are under reporting the survivability of this virus.  I'm sorry for those that have died.  It is sad and unfortunate.  If you are a survivor of the virus, you will have suffered.  Are we afraid of suffering a sickness? Mind you, I don't want to suffer this!!  It seems our culture has a pill or vaccine for everything that we don't even want to suffer from a common cold.

Remember the chicken pox?  I had my friend come over and play with me when I was little so she could 'catch it'.  I have a degree in Community Health Education  (now it is called Public Health). By no means does this make me an expert, but I have studied health. Immunology 101 says to expose yourself to a little bit of the virus to build up immunity.  That's the idea of vaccinations.  In my humble, doesn't really matter opinion...vaccinations are a good idea BUT we have to be careful with them.  A true vaccine is fine. However I question pharmaceutical vaccines: is the vaccine made with aborted baby parts (yes, it is a thing)? Are there preservatives (like mercury) or any other added-in chemicals that could cause serious side effects?  How well was it tested?  Not trying to be a conspirator, but these are actions from the past that we need to look at before we mass vaccinate.  If we are nation of freedom, we also have to respect those that choose not to take the vaccine.

The most natural way to vaccinate yourself is to expose yourself a little to the virus.  Guess what, if you do, you probably will get it.  If you are someone with a weakened immune system I wouldn't recommend it.  Just like the chicken pox, it is highly contagious.  My husband 'had' terrible seasonal allergies.  He went through the series of weekly shots to try build up his immunity to pollen.  It wasn't effective.  About 4 years ago he started taking local bee pollen.  It exposes his immune system to little bits of the 'enemy' so they know what defenses 'antibodies' to create to kill the enemy.  It's natural (also another reason we decided to keep our own bees) and proved to be highly effective. In order for this virus to go away, we all might have to expose ourselves to it.

Suffering

Why do I bring all of this immunity/vaccinations up? Because we will have to suffer if we are to be around people.  We will have to chance ourselves that we might get sick.  We can live up in a hole for only so long because we were made to be social.

Can you suffer? How well do you suffer?  Some people are suffering from isolation, some are suffering from their favorite meal at a restaurant, from church, from seeking other medical care, from unemployment, from not being able to visit family, from being denied so many things we take for granted.

How well do you suffer? Do you complain and moan? Assert your opinion?  Or are you a saint who embraces every suffering that comes your way?

Our Lady of Lourdes said to St. Bernadette "I cannot promise you happiness in this world, only in the next."

I once written a blog titled "Redemptive Suffering" (you can search it).  As Catholics we are called to offer up every sufferings as a prayer to God.  We unite our sufferings with Christ's sufferings.  I really HATE wearing a mask but I will offer it up if means that is my access to attend Church.  I really HATE the idea that I have to wear a mask because others who think differently than me. As an act of charity, I will offer it up and wear the mask so that it helps others feel safe and protected from the virus.  These are little sufferings.

Yes, I'm a hypocrite

In inserting my opinion on my little blog, just adds fuel to the fire.  I'm as guilty as contributing to the 'uncivil' war as anyone.  My hope and prayer is that one person will read this and ask themselves what do I fear? how can I conquer it? how well do I suffer?...because we have and will all suffer from this virus in some way.

If you or I catch the virus, I pray that we will not fear death and our sufferings we would endure will be embraced and united with Christ's sufferings on the Cross.  Help us Lord, endure the sufferings imposed on us during this pandemic. Amen.

"Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is the Church."  Colossians 1:24


What do you fear? Can you suffer well?