Items

• 
  2021-03-22

  #JOTPYLesson from compassrosetattoo

  compassrosetatoo I was raised religious. But I am not now. This past year though, I have been thinking about Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. I realized that for all my rushing this is the time for standing still and enjoying things I took for granted. I am learning how to do that.
• 
  2020

  Armageddon?

  Most believe Jehovah's Witnesses to be just annoying door-knockers but in fact, they are a doomsday cult led by a slightly obscure inner-government called the Watchtower Society. Here is a bit of their doctrine and perspective of what they think of COVID-19.
• 
  2020-08-09

  Worship seems so lonely now.

  With this isolation it's hard to feel a connection when your fellow worshipers aren't there with you. The friendly faces aren't there anymore and you're stuck feeling lonely. You can watch a video or listen to the broadcast in your car outside the church but it's lost its familiarity. We miss the people around us and are losing that comfort of others in worship and in song. We may even feel disconnected to our spirituality because of it. But it's something we just have to deal with to keep others safe. Even the Psalmist felt lonely. He described himself as a lonely bird sitting atop the roof of house and waiting for the Lord (Psalm 102:7). Perhaps we all just have to wait.
• 
  07/29/2020

  Gwendolyn Way Oral History, 2020/07/29

  An interview with Gwendolyn "Gwen" Way regarding her experience living in a retirement home during the pandemic. Gwen discusses the changes made by the residence where she lives to prevent an introduction or spread of the virus, as outbreaks in Long Term Care facilities have been common in Canada, and how it has effected her life within the home and her relationship with the world outside it. She compares and contrasts this lockdown and pandemic with the 19 months she spend in a sanatorium being treated for tuberculosis (TB) many years ago. The fear of the unknown and desperation at the lack of a firm end date are ideas which Gwen returns to repeatedly.
• 
  2020-04

  “Personally, it has not affected my faith or my belief."

  “Personally, it has not affected my faith or my belief. I've always had a very strong faith and I've always had strong faith because I'm a person who has pretty much knocked at death’s door more than once. I've been on life support so I look at covid-19 as another stumbling block and with my faith it's just something that I can crawl over like before.”
• 
  2020-04-01

  “It really hasn't affected my faith or beliefs in any way particular."

  “It really hasn't affected my faith or beliefs in any way particular. I still am able to read my Bible and pray and do all the same things I would do at church just from my home. My beliefs haven't changed everything that I feel and believe has stayed the same especially with like Easter that just happened. We were still able to celebrate that holiday as a family although we weren't like all together and at church but the point of the holiday is our beliefs so essentially we were still able to celebrate that from home.”
• 
  2020-04-01

  "As the cases kept getting higher and higher..."

  "As the cases kept getting higher and higher, I felt more inclined to press into the God and press into the Lord um even as my anxiety and stress went higher and higher because of the fact that I kept thinking I might have it I might have it but I did not have it at all really."
• 
  2020-04-24

  “Covid hasn't really affected my beliefs at all."

  “Covid hasn't really affected my beliefs at all. It's just kinda given me more time to spend reading the Bible and praying and stuff like that. Also, I've been putting an emphasis on caring for people and reconnecting my family using FaceTime....”
• 
  2020-04

  “So I'm a Christian and I feel like it's affected my beliefs in positive and negative ways."

  “So I'm a Christian and I feel like it's affected my beliefs in positive and negative ways. In the negative ways our churches isn’t able to meet publicly and I really rely on a lot of people for emotional support and it’s kinda like a nice at the end of the week you get to go to church and see all these people and it's really refreshing.”
• 
  2020-04-29

  A Christian couple's thoughts on COVID-19

  Email of journal entries from Marilyn Irwin: "Katie, I’ve been reading psalms and making journal entries....here are a few. Psalms 27:1-6 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? There is so much fear today due to the Coronavirus. We seem to forget that God has each of us in his hands. If we suffer, we suffer for His glory. We can take all the precautions but when it’s our time, clean hands won’t save us. I will dwell in the house of the Lord. I do pray Lord that You bring an end to the virus. I pray you watch over my family and Scott’s family. I especially pray for Donnie, Jo, Janel, and the kids. I pray they have a good visit and that Donnie and Jo get to come home to NH safely. I also pray for healing. Help me to understand my part in their lives. Psalms 28:6-9 As the pandemic continues to grow, we need to remember we are God’s people and he is our shield. He hears our cry. This is a trial we must endure. Panic and fear will not make the virus go away. Psalms 31:1-8 In this time of the unknown, I hope more people find you and take refuge in you. It’s only been a couple of weeks and people are already getting cabin fever. We don’t know what life will look like in the next couple of months. I am trying to follow Your word and cast out fear. I love you Lord and I praise you. Let Your will be done. Psalms 31:9-18 So many of us now are in distress, consumed by what might happen. So many are looking to their own strength to get through this pandemic. Our focus needs to be on you Lord. I am in your hands. Please help me to remember I have no power to change what is happening right now but I do have the power to change the way I think about it. Psalms 31: 19-24 My hope is in the Lord. I must trust His plan though I don’t understand why this is happening. I do pray more people will turn to the Lord. I pray people can still see the beauty in this world. I pray they feel God’s love. I pray we become a stronger, more self sufficient nation and that this nation will turn to you Lord for strength and understanding. I pray more people will open Your word and find comfort in it. When they see the sunrise or a flower in bloom, I pray they see You." Scott Irwin's email: "Our church is a very close knit family.. not the high tech, service streaming type church that has people who watch every week but never come meet anyone. So.. Covid-19 really turned our format of church upside down. Now our small group bible studies on Wednesday's and other days meet using Zoom and the Sunday Service is prerecorded on U-Tube and released at 10:30 am Sundays. During the week the Pastors rotate back and forth doing Daily Devotionals, releasing them about 8:00 am each morning in a church wide email link to the video. It is a little strange.. being cooped up here at home. Our scheduled Bible Studies with church groups are now on Zoom and my CBMC studies are also using Zoom. We don't go out to eat or to the YMCA. We make a few trips to Walmart using their curbside pickup to get food. But, the rest of our schedule is pretty much the same. We sail some on the lake when the wind is just right. We are doing an exercise routine on U-Tube at the same time as a neighbor friend. I'm doing a little more gardening and cabin projects are getting done. Evenings find us relaxing in the hot tub.. Marilyn with her plastic glass of wine. I think mostly not going to church and seeing our friends is the biggest inconvenience. That and our house shopping we like to do after church on Sundays. We know God has a plan in all this and He is working His plan. Things are going to work out and life is going to go on. I'm not sure what things will be like 6 months from now but we aren't worried about it. God is Good. Dad"
• 
  2020-04-02

  The Apocalypse as an ‘Unveiling’: What Religion Teaches Us About the End Times

  This article discusses the different religious viewpoints in relation to how the epidemic and apocalypse can affect the livelihood of each religion and its following and how they continue to practice in such trying times.