Monday Morning Thoughts

It is Monday morning, and for those of us in the midst of this "social isolation" of the COVID 19 Pandemic, it seems a lot like "Groundhog Day", (the movie), if you remember that story. We wake up and every day seems the same...many of us have mentioned that we are having difficulty keeping track of the days. They all seem the same.  Although I must admit, since retirement that has been a fairly typical feeling...the only day that seemed different and special was Sunday, because we could go to church. And now we can't even do that, but thankfully we are able to still worship and praise God from our living rooms thanks to modern technology. Not quite the same thing as being there in person, enjoying the presence of other fellow believers and singing songs together, worshiping and praising and lifting our hearts in unison to sing the Doxology as we "Praise God from Whom all blessings flow...", and even though we know we can worship God anywhere at any time...it still isn't the same, and we miss it. 

However the enforced isolation continues, and probably will for a little while longer. I realize the importance of "social distancing", but I also realize the importance of getting to a place of realizing that in this life there are always going to be dangers and illnesses lurking in the shadows.  We are people of faith...and there comes a point in time when we need to allow our faith to conquer our fears and get back to living. Otherwise, our fears will overcome us and we will never be able to walk out of our homes without wondering what germ is going to get us this time.

Sorry, I can't live like that. I don't believe that people of faith were meant to live like that.

Yes, we are sensible, thoughtful, and caring about others even more than ourselves. 

However:

2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV)

7.  "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, 

but of power and of love and of a sound mind."

I think the longer we continue in this enforced isolation and not allowing people to get back to work and resume their normal lives we will find that more and more people will not be able to sustain a "sound mind".  Fear is taking over rational thought, and some are becoming handicapped by it so that they may never be able to hug another person, shake a hand, or stand closer than six feet to a person ever again. 

I believe in being reasonably cautious about spreading germs, especially where those with underlying medical conditions and the very elderly are concerned,  but we also need to be cautious about becoming so overly conscious of germs that we can't function in a normal way.

This is my opinion, and I don't expect everyone to agree with me. I may even lose a few "followers".

I certainly do understand that this is a serious disease and many have suffered and even died from it, even people that I know have lost loved ones or have suffered from this illness, and my heart goes out to them and my prayers are with them for healing and comfort and strength to keep going.  

However, I also understand that there are many serious diseases and germs out there, and they have been out there since time began, and after this particular pandemic is over, there will be others to follow in the days, months and years to come.

We can't stop living because we are afraid to die.

That's it in a nutshell.

We are already dying every day...and have been since the moment we were born.

Many of us have seen loved ones die way too soon from diseases that we wish the medical world would spend as much time and energy and money on trying to find a cure as they have this virus, because cancer and other major diseases have been killing our loved ones for centuries and they can't find a cure. There is no vaccine to prevent it, and no real treatment that completely cures it.

Oh well, I didn't wake up intending to write all of this, but apparently it is on my mind and it needs to be said. 

So there it is.

Something to think about and pray about and seek God's face about. 

I have a copy of this list of verses about fear and anxiety that I keep in my Bible.

It is there as a ready index to help me find words from God's Word to help me when I am feeling fearful or am anxious about life. It has been said that there are actually 365 verses or admonitions to "Fear Not" in the Bible, one for every day of the year....I don't know that for certain, but I do know that God does not want us to live in fear,  but to live in faith and to trust Him with every detail of our lives. And that is how I want to live my life. How about you?

Meanwhile, here's a few "this and that" things that have caught my attention while walking here and there and trying to stay alert and healthy:

This lovely golden dragonfly came to visit us yesterday, and stayed attached to our front window screen for a very long time.

 Here is a link to something I wrote about the dragonfly last year.  They are certainly fascinating creatures. Yesterday was the 9th anniversary of when my father passed away.  Not saying that I think anything about this is related to that, but it is an interesting connection none the less.

This is a picture of my daddy, just after winning a game of horseshoes with my brothers and hubby. This is the way I love to remember my dad, always full of fun and energy and joy at being with the family.  I miss him every day.

 Now this is certainly shifting gears a bit...The place where we like to take our walks is very secluded and woodsy.  This old dead tree has been "speaking to me" every time I pass by it. So I decided yesterday was a good time to take its picture.  Do you see the face? Not very pretty, but interesting none the less.  Hello tree creature!   People are saying since we can't hug each other we should hug a tree. Not sure I want to hug this one...

 I did, however, hug this huge pine tree one day, because it is enormous!

It's branches reach out in every direction much farther than our normal pine trees here in Florida:

 And I just thought it deserved a hug...it must be very old and wise to be still standing after so many storms of life...I'll bet if trees could talk, it could tell us many interesting stories.

Now back to Still Waters Pond in our own back yard...I know this isn't the best picture of the Great Blue Heron. It was taken at noon, and the sun was too bright for good lighting, but I wanted to include this picture so that you would understand the next picture after that better.

Here is that same bird taking off in flight. I wish it were more clear, but it is so rare that I get to actually capture a picture of one of them in flight, I had to include it for you:

Last but not least, this past week we heard some sad news.

The lovely Indian Maiden "Mia" who has graced the packaging of Land O' Lakes butter since 1928 has been removed from their packaging.  See the quoted information from Wikipedia below.

Wikipedia says: "Butter packaging[edit]

The recursive image long shown on the Land O'Lakes butter packaging is an example of the Droste effect.

The Land O'Lakes indigenous woman, named Mia, holding the butter box was painted in 1928 by Brown & Bigelow illustrator Arthur C. Hanson.^[23] According to Land O'Lakes, the original image of Mia was "simplified and modernized" in 1939 by Jess Betlach and has undergone many minor modifications since as the enduring logo of the co-op. Red Lake Ojibwe artist Patrick DesJarlait updated Mia's image in the 1950s.^[23][24] The original image is an example of the infinite-loop motif or Droste effect, in which the image is repeated, in theory infinitely, within itself.

In 2018, the image was changed to depict only the head of the Indian woman (doing away with the Droste effect).^[25] In April 2020, the company announced it was removing the image of the Indian woman altogether.^[26] The use of an indigenous woman as a mascot had been criticized as a racist stereotype,^[27] and the decision to change the label was praised by Native advocates such as Peggy Flanagan, Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota and a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe." ^[28]"

When I heard this news I was sad because I think "Mia" is lovely, and she certainly represents the beauty of Native American women since time began. I am sorry if people now think she is a "racist stereotype".  However, I am sure people will disagree with me there as well. However, I am happy that I have this wonderful mug with Mia's picture on it. I have had this for a long time, not even sure where or how I got it, but I love it.

It contains my little corn on the cob holders so that when we have corn on the cob you don't burn your fingers or get buttery hands while trying to eat the corn off the cob. 

They go along nicely with these corn on the cob dishes, that hold the butter so you can turn your corn cob around in it and get it nicely buttered:

Now I want some fresh corn on the cob, but it probably isn't really good for my dietary condition...LOL.  Anyway, my little Land O' Lakes Indian Maiden mug probably just went up in value so I will be taking very good care of it. Besides, I love it, and I will enjoy looking at Mia's pretty face and traditional Indian dress no matter what other people may think. There is a legend that my mother's mother's family descended from a lovely Native American woman many moons ago. It has never been fully authenticated, but it was a wonderful story. I will have to share it sometime. One of my uncles wrote it beautifully for us to preserve for future generations. Yes, I think I need to share it...perhaps in another post very soon.

For now, I hope that I have not stepped on too many toes or caused people to think less of me. I think most of us are quite anxious to have this social isolation over and done with. I also know that we have to do it carefully, gradually, and sensibly.  I am not advocating rushing back into life as we knew it before...but  I do hope that we will not allow fear to keep us from living our lives and showing our love for our families and friends.  I believe that a hug is a way to pass the love of Christ along to our fellow man. Many people need to feel the warmth of that embrace and know that God loves them.

I pray that we will soon be able to share that warmth and love once again.