When the covid rules were imposed here in Maryland we had no sacraments at my parish from March to June. Otherwise intelligent friends told me it was illegal and dangerous to pray a rosary in the parking lot of our church even if we each sat in his own vehicle. I'm still struggling with bitterness over that stupidity. It shocked me to see so many people swallow the fear porn (sorry for the mixed metaphor) uncritically.
I'll be thinking about your article here for some time. It's beautiful.
"...the enemy simply understands that the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, and so it is one step at a time that they lead us along the path to Hell." ABSOLUTELY! We are called to a daily renewing of our mind. His word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. Lord, help us to stand firm.
In Ontario...still many churches that haven’t bothered to remove the trappings of the plandemic from their websites or physical buildings...let alone repudiate and confess their actions!
From one pediatrician to another, “You rock, man!” Love the exposition, the attitude. The reminder to confess more than profess, and the love you have for your Little ones!
I was fired from my job for not complying with covid mandates -- https://deeplevity.substack.com/p/the-cost-is-great -- and one of the nagging things that kept coming from even Christian corners was the idea that a shot, a weekly test, etc, were very small things, things not worth sacrificing a livelihood for.
I struggled with the 'open window' aspect of it for a while too, but I failed to see what Daniel saw, an open window in a Godless land is not braggadocios but an act of faithful obedience.
May 4, 2023·edited May 4, 2023Liked by Adrian Gaty
This comment is late but I started re-reading the Berenson post (about the defiant Bay Area church that was spied on) that you put this link into.
I loved your post and am intimately familiar with the world you are critiquing (although I quit reading CT several years ago. Gone are the days of Carl Henry & JI Packer).
When Covid started I didn’t “get it” and was myself “a moderate.” I was uncomfortable with the more belligerent-seeming behavior of MacArthur, for example, yet now I think he was right in his defiance — in other words, faithful.
What really bothers me now is The Silence. You would hardly know at my church that Covid had been “a thing.” You could never say to someone in a prayer group something like: “you seem to think maybe your vaccine has a temporal correlation to this difficulty you want pray about, let me assure you your fears are warranted.” A sister in Christ really doesn’t seem to want me to affirm that, yes, the VA did indeed kill your beloved husband by giving him Remdenisvir. I honestly don’t speak to a female pediatrician at church that I know, because I am afraid of what her “Covid beliefs” might be. What are we sacrificing for the sake of peace and the facade of unity?
I find myself particularly upset with Tim Keller’s silence because, although I am sorry about his cancer, how does one promote a book about FORGIVENESS as though our Covid calamity never happened? Families and friends have been ripped apart. And then I see in some tweet or other that F Collins is his buddy. Ugh.
[BTW My secret wish is that somehow, before he dies, he goes full-Catholic-angst and makes a huge whistleblower confession about the whole corrupt shabang, you know, to clear his soul and shorten that stay in purgatory. But if not, God HATES liars, and I wouldn’t want to be him on J Day. I don’t even want to be me who didn’t systematically corrupt scientific research and public policy. I wrote a pretty hot email to the folks at the Faith Angle podcast for conducting an uncritical interview with him.
In sum, I have come to believe the church with a few exceptions acted wrongly during Covid and is acting wrongly in its aftermath.
(PS hubby and I sell that Children’s series at our nonprofit bookfairs)
Loved this! Thank you!
When the covid rules were imposed here in Maryland we had no sacraments at my parish from March to June. Otherwise intelligent friends told me it was illegal and dangerous to pray a rosary in the parking lot of our church even if we each sat in his own vehicle. I'm still struggling with bitterness over that stupidity. It shocked me to see so many people swallow the fear porn (sorry for the mixed metaphor) uncritically.
I'll be thinking about your article here for some time. It's beautiful.
A powerful idea, clarifying.
Great stuff man! Never noticed the 30 days either, and yeah the big Christianity article titles write themselves there...
"...the enemy simply understands that the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, and so it is one step at a time that they lead us along the path to Hell." ABSOLUTELY! We are called to a daily renewing of our mind. His word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. Lord, help us to stand firm.
In Ontario...still many churches that haven’t bothered to remove the trappings of the plandemic from their websites or physical buildings...let alone repudiate and confess their actions!
From one pediatrician to another, “You rock, man!” Love the exposition, the attitude. The reminder to confess more than profess, and the love you have for your Little ones!
Wanted to share my musings if you’re interested. https://open.substack.com/pub/fffm?r=wma92&utm_medium=ios
Great read! Well said!
This piece has been incredibly encouraging to me.
I was fired from my job for not complying with covid mandates -- https://deeplevity.substack.com/p/the-cost-is-great -- and one of the nagging things that kept coming from even Christian corners was the idea that a shot, a weekly test, etc, were very small things, things not worth sacrificing a livelihood for.
I struggled with the 'open window' aspect of it for a while too, but I failed to see what Daniel saw, an open window in a Godless land is not braggadocios but an act of faithful obedience.
Thank you for sharing this insight.
This comment is late but I started re-reading the Berenson post (about the defiant Bay Area church that was spied on) that you put this link into.
I loved your post and am intimately familiar with the world you are critiquing (although I quit reading CT several years ago. Gone are the days of Carl Henry & JI Packer).
When Covid started I didn’t “get it” and was myself “a moderate.” I was uncomfortable with the more belligerent-seeming behavior of MacArthur, for example, yet now I think he was right in his defiance — in other words, faithful.
What really bothers me now is The Silence. You would hardly know at my church that Covid had been “a thing.” You could never say to someone in a prayer group something like: “you seem to think maybe your vaccine has a temporal correlation to this difficulty you want pray about, let me assure you your fears are warranted.” A sister in Christ really doesn’t seem to want me to affirm that, yes, the VA did indeed kill your beloved husband by giving him Remdenisvir. I honestly don’t speak to a female pediatrician at church that I know, because I am afraid of what her “Covid beliefs” might be. What are we sacrificing for the sake of peace and the facade of unity?
I find myself particularly upset with Tim Keller’s silence because, although I am sorry about his cancer, how does one promote a book about FORGIVENESS as though our Covid calamity never happened? Families and friends have been ripped apart. And then I see in some tweet or other that F Collins is his buddy. Ugh.
[BTW My secret wish is that somehow, before he dies, he goes full-Catholic-angst and makes a huge whistleblower confession about the whole corrupt shabang, you know, to clear his soul and shorten that stay in purgatory. But if not, God HATES liars, and I wouldn’t want to be him on J Day. I don’t even want to be me who didn’t systematically corrupt scientific research and public policy. I wrote a pretty hot email to the folks at the Faith Angle podcast for conducting an uncritical interview with him.
In sum, I have come to believe the church with a few exceptions acted wrongly during Covid and is acting wrongly in its aftermath.
(PS hubby and I sell that Children’s series at our nonprofit bookfairs)