A Moment in TIme: November 5, 2020

I thought it would be interesting to take stock of things right now. I'm sitting at the kitchen table on Thursday, November 5 at 9:08 pm. I haven't felt that great the last couple of days with a sore throat and a viraly, achy feeling. I don't think it's COVID, but of course it is until proven otherwise, so I have cancelled a couple of commitments and have been keeping away from people. I've been tested three times since COVID began, all negative, but I don't know if we can really depend on the veracity of the tests.

Interestingly, Donald Trump is making a similar, though completely false claim about the veracity of the voting process. "Stop the count!" he tweets. Fraudulent, fake votes have been cast, he wants you to believe. He just made a speech, in which without proof he alleged all kinds of fraud. It was so egregious, that the networks all pulled away from it to point out that he was lying. I guess it shouldn't be a shock as he was babbling about fraud before the election. Hopefully we will have a resolution to the election soon and the next couple of months will go by without too much drama. One can dream. . . 

Though I've always had strong political opinions, I haven't posted on social media about the election or politics in probably over a decade. There are a few reasons for this. First of all, I raise money for two organizations. Republicans and Democrats both contribute, and I don't want to alienate any supporters by making political posts they disagree with. Secondly, while it can be satisfying to go on the record with political opinions, they convince absolutely no one, who doesn't already think like you do. I'm convinced of this. Plus it tends to make people, or at least this person, obsessed about politics, which is not a healthy situation. Lastly, I think there is a third way, a better way to post on social media, focusing on faith, hope, and most especially love.

This election is taking place against the backdrop of a pandemic that seems to be spiking out of control. John just told me that we hit 115,000 COVID cases today, breaking yesterday's record. Wow. I asked him if he thought that this big increase was due to better testing and he said maybe some, but there are definitely more cases. Everyone is so tired of the masking and the social distancing and the not being able to have family gatherings and the isolation and the death and the fear. COVID. . . if Biden is elected president, as it seems clear he will be, I hope that his policies will help us extinguish this pandemic. 

On the plus side, we are in the middle of a string of gorgeous autumn days-sunny, in the 70's, We seem to be having a late fall and the colors are still gorgeous. 

Luke was accepted at Iowa State University today. Very exciting! Mom and dad and other family members are healthy. Even though I can't be around people, I have work I can do at home. Many blessings, even during challenging times.

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