Let me tell you, I am a person of faith and I believe that ‘all things are possible’ with God and that God can make a way in the wilderness and rivers to run in the desert and all that. However, when it comes to certain matters, I do not believe God expects us to be stupid. And as far as I am concerned, He gave us a brain which He quite rightly expects us to use. So, if you do not use your brains nor exercise wisdom and you then find yourself up the Swanee without a paddle, do not blame the Almighty, the devil or anything else, living, dead or inanimate.
This brings me to a US pastor who recently died after contracting the coronavirus Covid19. People all about us and around the world are departing this life at a speed we have never seen in our lifetime, no matter what medical care they received and that is sad. And in order to save as many lives as possible, all governments across the globe have introduced a new phenomenon – social distancing. That means no hugs and handshakes, no kissy-kissy and definitely no congregating. With people you do not live with. But this pastor Gerald Glenn of the New Deliverance Evangelistic Church in Richmond, Virginia, him think different. He chose to defy the social distancing rules and congregated. Kept church. Big church. Plenty of people. And why? Because he said that ‘God is larger than this dreaded virus’. And as such, he presumed this killer disease would not touch him.
Fully persuaded by his presumption, he promised that he would keep preaching ‘unless I’m in jail or the hospital’. Well, sad to say he is in a far different place than jail or hospital right now. If he was in jail or hospital, he stood a chance of coming out and rejoining the living. But this other place that he went to – no chance! And he was only 66. He had plenty of life left to live. What is even more peculiar, is the church elder Bryan Nevers asking God, why? Why did the pastor die? Well, you do not have to waste God’s time by asking Him that. You can ask me. I can tell you. In one word.
And as for the arrogant and ridiculous anti-lockdown protesters in central London waving their stupid placards ‘My Body, My Choice’. My backfoot! They need their heads seeing to. To see if there is anything in there. So what exactly are they saying, that it is their decision to make whether they contract the virus or not? How dense are these people? Do they think the 28,000 (although the figure from the Office of National Statistics is nearer 45,000) who contracted the virus and died had a choice? It is an insult to them. And what about the grieving families and friends who have lost loved ones to this dastardly disease? Who couldn’t be with them in their dying hours on planet Earth? Have they not heard that England has the highest recorded deaths in Europe? And occupies the unenviable third place in world stats.
There is still a present risk of large numbers of people associating together. But what were these airheads doing: getting in groups and hugging. Hugging! On purpose! To make which point? Their selfishness and blatant disregard for public safety are breathtaking. Have they given any thought to the National Health Service and the unnecessary burden they are putting on it? I bet these are the first people to run to A & E with a broken fingernail or call for an ambulance when they are face down in a gutter stoned out of their numskull. As the government has indicated that pubs might be the last to exit the lockdown, my guess is it is probably the pub crawlers who doth protest too much!
Very good blog J. enjoyed the read, well written, very witty and observant. It was a good respite from having come in from shopping, weary and stressed. Applause!