Thoughtworthy (Anniversary, Romans 13, Caring & More!)

:: 1 ::

We spent our 19th anniversary in a real restaurant, which was unexpected and oh so wonderful. Of course, the tyrants shut it down two days later. 🙁 That’s unfortunate, and I hope the business makes it. They have already fired half their staff. How they are to survive, I don’t know. We did what we could and supported them as we could. It’s one of our favorite places.

I also went to the first protest I’ve been to in years as part of the Kern Liberty Coalition. That was totally fun. I mean, I didn’t go for the purpose of having fun, but it turns out seeing people is good for your mental health.

That reminds me: if you know someone who is isolated alone without family, make sure you check on them from time to time. Humans were not created to be alone and serious declines in mental and physical health can happen as a result of extended periods of isolation.

:: 2 ::

We’re in the final stretch for school lessons. Only four weeks left. It’s bittersweet. It always feels good finishing strong at the end of a year, but I’d hoped for a better celebration for my son’s graduation. We’ll see. Four weeks can change a lot. I feel bad for him. His 18th birthday is also coming up. These are two special things that I fear will not be justly honored, though we’ll do what we can.

:: 3 ::

Something to think about, from my pastor, Chad Vegas (stitched together and slightly edited by me to make sense in this context):

Christian Friends~It is not a violation of Romans 13 to disobey Governor Gavin Newsom. It is a violation of Romans 13 to disobey a lawful and constitutional order of Governor Gavin Newsom. We have no king. We are a constitutional republic. Please mark the difference.

[W]e aren’t under the same form of government as Rome in the 1st century. Our government is a constitutional republic. Thus, only those laws that are constitutional must be obeyed. Further, Governors don’t write laws. Did you hear about the Legislature meeting to pass any of his current laws? Nope. One step further, when does the Governor have the right to overturn the Bill of Rights for as long as he deems necessary?

I am not valuing our constitution above God’s word. I am pointing out that you can’t apply a command in 1st century Rome regarding government in exactly the same way in the American context. It disregards the nature of government. We are NOT under a Caesar. We are NOT under those who are appointed by Caesar. We are UNDER a constitution. That is the law of the land. Any law that is in accord with that is what we are under. Any law not in accord with that, we are not under. Now, how one sorts through that isn’t easy. But I have plenty of constitutional attorneys around me who claim that the Governor has massively overstepped his authority, in spite of that article from the dispatch. Incidentally, I have never violated the order in my county. With that said, I don’t believe the order is constitutional. I think it should be overturned. But civil disobedience is NOT my first response. Further, does [the] view [that disobeying the Governor is a violation of Romans 13] apply if the Governor permanently declares this an emergency and says your church can’t meet? At what point do you disobey? He is saying potentially not until Fall. Then what if it spikes again and he closes it until June 2021? Do you keep applying Romans 13 and 1 Pet 2 in the same way you are now? Of course you don’t. Frankly, I think the church is suspending obedience to the command to gather for a time. But I don’t believe what we are doing is in accord with what scripture commands about gathering, the sacraments etc. So, yes, we are patient now. But at some point we disobey, which under the Bill of Rights, a document above Gavin, is not actually disobedience.

:: 4 ::

This month in 2015:

It can feel like all is lost when you realize that caring is the test of success for a Charlotte Mason education. It doesn’t have to be, though. This post contains my initial thoughts on the subject.

:: 5 ::

Podcast episode of the week:

• 1M, A Homeopath’s Podcast: Special Episode: Jeremy Sherr Covid-19 Update #4
  • This podcast is so inside baseball, I almost didn’t share it. But it really is my favorite episode of everything I listened to this week! (I listen while I take a walk or fold laundry.)
  • This is super specialized and you have to have studied quite a lot of homeopathy to begin to grasp it. Jeremy Sherr is an expert on homeopathic treatments for use in epidemics — so he’s not just repertoirizing individual cases, but rather he’s trying to collect hundreds and even thousands of cases in order to repertoirize the entire Covid-19 epidemic. The hours of sessions he’s been sharing for free are amazing if you like to geek out on this stuff.

:: 6 ::

This week’s links collection:

• Swedish Ambassador Says Stockholm Expected To Reach ‘Herd Immunity’ In May from NPR
  • Good for them! I’m happy for them.
  • “The World Health Organization on Friday said the idea that one-time infection can lead to immunity remains unproven.” Doesn’t this call into question the quest for a vaccine?
• How to do Picture Study from A Humble Place
  • YES. If you need a primer on how we do it, this is the place to go!
• Costco limits meat purchases in U.S. as supply shortages loom from Financial Post
  • If you know people who raise livestock, then this is not shocking. Turns out, closing down your entire economy has consequences. Hopefully, not too many, but many know so little about farming that they don’t realize animals must be slaughtered at certain ages — you can’t just wait.

:: 7 ::

Corona reads:

Short version of the disclaimer I gave last week: I like to read articles, studies, etc. but I am not a doctor. If I tell you something I do, please don’t mistake it for medical advice.

• Researcher identifies link between COVID-19, selenium (HT: Lani)
  • Lani sent me this as a follow-up to the selenium link I shared last week.
  • This is the journal piece the article refers to.
  • As I told you last week, we use Body Bio selenium drops.
• Chloroquine is a potent inhibitor of SARS coronavirus infection and spread
  • This study is from 2005 and talking about SARS, not Covid-19. They are close cousins, which means treatments that work for one might work for the other.
  • The whole study is very interesting to read, I think. The conclusion gets to the point: “Chloroquine is effective in preventing the spread of SARS CoV in cell culture. Favorable inhibition of virus spread was observed when the cells were either treated with chloroquine prior to or after SARS CoV infection.”
  • PRIOR TO. This is important. This study says that chloroquine is not only an effective treatment for SARS, but also that it can be used prophylactically. Plenty of people take chloroquine (or its safer relative, the hyrodychloroquine analog) for chronic conditions like lupus. Since these people are in high risk groups, it seems comforting that their treatments may also be protective against Covid-19.
• The Functional Medicine Approach to COVID-19: Primer on SARS-CoV-2 Testing (HT: tess)
  • This is written for clinicians, but some of you might find it interesting.