<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Virus that Stole Christmas<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n It’s another gray December day. I’ve been walking for about an hour and my legs and back are starting to bother me. I’ve been walking too much lately and I’m not a young man anymore. Who am I kidding? Not a young man indeed. Let’s spare the euphemisms and tell it like it is – I’m an old coot for sure.\u00a0 I’m lucky to be walking at all.<\/span><\/p>\n But old coot or not I still walk four to five miles a day – and sometimes I pay for it with aches and pains that I drown with ibuprofen and Tylenol. I’ll say Tylenol because it’s hard to spell acetaminophen or paracetamol as it’s called in most of the rest of the world.<\/span><\/p>\n Anyway, I sit down on a bench to rest my aching legs, and a gentle snow begins to fall, and it begins to look a bit like Christmas.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Being an old coot, I can tell you I’ve never seen anything like the year 2020. It’s been a zinger from beginning to end.\u00a0 Not only because of the pandemic which has been going on since ins late February… but I’ve never seen people so divided and so angry.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Some people say Covid-19 is just another cold or flu while others are sure it’s a threat to their families and loved ones – and some even fear it will kill them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Being an old coot with several – and I hate this word – “comorbidities”, you can put me in the cautious group. It’s not that I think Covid will kill me -but who wants to get sick and spend a week or two feeling horrible? So, I’m not an anti-masker. I masked up when I go into a store. And I avoid large groups of people – I even avoid small groups of people.<\/span><\/p>\n I know some think wearing a mask is an infringement upon their freedoms but then again so are speed limits, stop signs, seat belts, school zones, and the like. I don’t think it’s my right to spread my germs to others or have them spread them to me.\u00a0 Masks help prevent me from infecting you and you from infecting me. It doesn’t make me anyone’s pawn. It makes me a smart and hopefully a healthier old coot.<\/span><\/p>\n It’s not a political issue with me.\u00a0 If putting a piece of cloth over my nose and mouth protects you and protects me as well – then I’m going to do it.\u00a0 How simple is that?<\/span><\/p>\n Sadly, beyond the political and civil unrest all around – I’ve never seen so much hate in the world. This hatred was not caused by the virus, the virus just brought it to light. Some crazy loons are spewing all sorts of conspiracy theories and hate on social media. And if we – you and me – allow it, the virus and the hate will steal our Christmas.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We can’t and we don’t let the pandemic or hate to steal our Christmas.<\/span><\/p>\n I’m not going to be able to gather with my friends and family this year as I would like to, but I will still see my family members – although not all of us together at the same time.\u00a0 Maybe you will be doing things differently this year too.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Christmas is more than the sum of Christmas parties, gift-giving, and family celebrations. Christmas is the time we celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace. And I bet He’s looking down upon our pandemic-stricken world from which so much hatred and division has arisen…well, I imagine He’s not very happy with us.<\/span><\/p>\n Don’t let the virus steal your Christmas. Don’t let the virus turn you against those who don’t agree with you.\u00a0 Christmas is a time for forgiving, forbearance, charity, and most of all love.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cLove is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, love is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things\u2026. So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.\u201d 1 Corinthians Chapter 13<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n This crazy year is coming to an end and we should all have great hope that next year will bring an end to the pandemic. But I hope for more than that. I hope it brings an end to the hatred and craziness that have consumed our world. <\/span><\/p>\n We shouldn’t have to be reminded that no matter how much we disagree with others that we have much more in common than we think.\u00a0 We should all tolerate and accept our differences while understanding we all have so much in common.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo, let us not be blind to our differences–but let us also direct attention to our common interests and to the means by which those differences can be resolved. And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u2015 John F. Kennedy<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The pandemic is still ravishing my country and most likely yours. But we should never allow this pandemic or any virus or any differences we may have to steal our Christmas. Christmas means different things to different people. But the Spirit of Christmas that guides us all is love.<\/span><\/p>\n The virus is not going to steal my Christmas; I will not let it. I won’t let the pandemic take the Spirit of Christmas from my heart. I hope you won’t let the virus steal Christmas or take the Spirit of Christmas from your heart.<\/span><\/p>\n This Christmas love each other, and you’ll be giving the greatest gift of all.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Virus Hates Christmas<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n This virus hates Christmas, nobody can doubt.<\/span> Some people are doubters the say it’s a cold<\/span> But Santa’s still working, they say he’s immune<\/span> The virus will try to steal the joy from the season,<\/span> Merry<\/span> Christmas!<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Virus that Stole Christmas It’s another gray December day. I’ve been walking for about an hour and my legs and back are starting to bother me. I’ve been walking too much lately and I’m not a young man anymore. Who am I kidding? Not a young man indeed. Let’s spare the euphemisms and tell it\u2026 Read More »<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13904,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[228,1741],"tags":[4121],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20480"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20480"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20480\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20484,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20480\/revisions\/20484"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n
\nIt’s all over the place, both inside and out.<\/span>
\nWhile the Christmas lights shine, and the snowflakes still fall<\/span>
\nNot much else this Christmas seems like Christmas at all.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nOthers are scared and believe what they’re told<\/span>
\nBut one thing is certain, lots of people are sick<\/span>
\nHopefully one of them is not old St. Nick.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nAnd we hope he can brighten the quarantine gloom.<\/span>
\nInstead of cookies, it might just be wiser <\/span>
\nTo leave Santa a bottle of good hand sanitizer.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nBut we can’t let that happen and for a good reason.<\/span>
\nI’m sure if we all still truly believe<\/span>
\nThe blessings of Christmas we’ll all still receive.<\/span><\/p>\n