My Daily Struggle in the COVID-19 Lockdown

This was a good day. I didn't feel like driving all the way to Schaumburg, but I watched church livestream. Dad called in the middle of it, so I texted him to tell him that I would call him back after church. He was worried because he thought I was in an actual church during the lockdown. Still, if everyone takes precautions as we should, why not? Just think of the Schaumburg church from last Sunday, or the drive-in churches the Christophobes are trying to close down. Also,  I received the best new of the year today. My best friend and her family are moving back to Chicagoland! I'm so happy I could ululate! Hopefully things will get better for them. I would almost rather live in Tennessee than Illinois, but at least life in Illinois is about to get brighter!  Okay, so it is now time for beard check. I know it grew a little. My wife suggested growing sideburns to make the beard look better, but I like the Egyptian look better. Besides, if I grow sideburns now, it wil...

CHRIST HAS RISEN!!! Today was a pretty good day. It was, after all, the beginning of the Resurrection Season. I went to a social-distancing prepared church and could actually take Eucharist. It felt so good to be in church again! I will probably go there until the lockdown is over, and if that means I need to drive 1 mile to get to Schaumburg, so be it! According to the major, today's death toll is the lowest it has been in 6 days, so that is good news. On the other hand, I read horrible stories about how a Michigan woman lost her whole family to this virus, and a Louisiana man lost 10 relatives and friends. I am not ashamed to admit that these stories made me cry. There has been so much death the past week. A friend of mine recently lost his grandmother from COVID-19. Thankfully, my mother, wife, and grandmothers are all safe and relatively healthy, and so are my golden-year friends. I have suffered so much loss, yet I have barely become numb to it. Each loss is still a dagger...

Good Friday. A sobering day in which I remember how my Savior suffered and died for the forgiveness of my sins. It is the second holiest day of all Christianity. Our Vicar had another livestream, and I almost missed it because Mozilla Firefox cannot stream well from Facebook. On Chrome, there were no problems. Just as you think the mudslinging had subsided, Governor Pritzker just had to open his 100 lb mouth. He is now repeating the rhetoric of his extremist comrades. He had the nerve to insist that Trump was failing to help with providing necessary materials for fighting the outbreak. What is the proof? Also, why are governors like Pritzker and Cuomo becoming more apt to depend on Trump for support? Another thing: Illinois and New York have GDPs greater than 1/3 of Europe. Why aren't the governors making resources for their states instead of demanding resources from the President, especially considering how they told him to take a hike ever since he was elected. Maybe if they wo...

Today was a good day. I had gotten up around 7:30 and watched the Palm Sunday service livestream. I then went out and delivered palms to people from church, as well as my mother and grandmother. Also, I was able to get some work done on my new book; I had been neglecting it for too long.  This will make an interested Holy Week. Indeed, though I keep saying this, this is the first time since I remember missing church on the major festival days. At least there is livestream. I hope we can agree to some sort of compromise on Resurrection Sunday; I know that this day will be very hard for many. Still, I understand and submit to the lockdown, and I would have for what happened to  Rev. Rodney Howard-Browne of Tampa, Florida to happen to our Vicar and Maintenance Pastor. I am confident we can think of something to observe the holiest day of the year safely, like a drive in service. After all, would we not be in the protection of our vehicles? Communion may be another story, but I ...

Slept in very late today. Tried to order groceries via Shipt, but their website decided at the last minute to announce that I could only get groceries through them if I paid a monthly fee. So, I decided to bite the bullet and go down the street to Aldi. At least today, there was no shortage of milk, eggs, or bread like the other times. I was reading the news reports yesterday, and I was concerned to read about people losing their jobs because of the lockdown. Though I hate having to contact my clients via telephone (I hate talking on the phone, period), at least my agency is considered essential, and at least my job is considered essential. The last time I heard the term "essential worker" was on Schindler's List. When we do have to go out, we have been encouraged to carry our work IDs in case we are stopped.  Still, tomorrow is Palm Sunday, and yet again, the only church service available to me is via a computer screen. Perhaps I should not complain so much about it ...