NOTES, 6 AUGUST 2021
Greetings, blog reader, on Friday, August 6, 2021. We are in the Dog Days of summer now. This is not my favorite time of the year. By this point, we southerners have grown weary of the hot and humid weather we have endured for months on end. Even worse, the mockingbirds do not sing at this time of the year. They are molting. My garden is still in its lush summer mode but noticeably transcending into its early fall phase as daylight wanes. Meanwhile, it is time for us to check in on the crises we have been tracking for many months.
PANDEMIC. The euphoria we felt at the arrival of the vaccines a few months ago has vanished. In fact, we are now in the ghastly third surge of the pandemic. The first peaked in July of 2020, the second in January of 2021. The third, we are in now, is still skyrocketing with no end in sight. If tends continue on for several more weeks, this will be the worst surge of all. By all metrics, this plague has surpassed the great flu pandemic of 1918-19. More horrifying of all is the new reality that variants of the original coronavirus are now spreading like wildfire bringing much more contagious and deadly conditions. Scientists have no idea how many more variants will appear or how bad they will be. We are all on edge.
The United States is now counting 631,879 deaths, according to Worldometers, bypassing the 600,000 who died in the flu pandemic of a century ago (when there was no vaccine).
The figures for our southern states are disheartening. South Carolina is listing 631,037 cases and 9,939 deaths. While the rate of fully vaccinated is now over half in the U.S. (50.5%), SC is reporting only 40.9%. The present surge is very clear in SC: in the last 14 days, cases up 270%, hospitalizations +156%, and deaths up 32%.
Alabama is reporting similar figures. Of all 50 states plus D.C., AL has the lowest fully vaccinated rate, at 34.6%. AL is listing 599,633 cases and 11,574 deaths. In the last 14 days, cases have arisen 145%, hospitalizations +162%, and deaths +100%. A few days ago, my local hospital in Anniston reported four deaths in one day from COVID-19, the most ever. It is clear in SC and AL, the pandemic is surging out of control. As children and teens are returning to school, we can expect this to get even worse.
Unfortunately, much of the trouble stems from the politicization of this pandemic that has been going on since day one. Public health crises should never become political issues, but this one has. This is a national disgrace. Nothing says this more than the case of Florida, the new epicenter of the plague. There the governor has actually banned mandates to mitigate the spread of the virus. The governor is running to be the next Trump and he thinks this is the way to do it. Meanwhile just look at the appalling statistics coming from the state. If one looks at the charts, one sees that this third surge is already the worst of all three in FL. Florida has a history of bad state government, but this is no excuse for this incredible dereliction of duty in Tallahassee.
SCHISM IN SC. Still waiting on the SC Supreme Court to rule on the Episcopal Church's appeal of Judge Edgar Dickson's outlandish order of 2020. I doubt that we will hear anything from the court until summer is over. Meanwhile, we have no choice but to stand by until the justices move. Remember, it took 22 months last time for the court to go from the hearing to the written decision. We have not had a hearing yet on this go-around and I rather doubt we will have at this point.
Meanwhile, both parts of the old diocese are moving ahead with new leadership. Incidentally, be sure to read Steve Skardon's insightful description of the Episcopal diocese's election. Find it here .
Two points need to be made here. The first is that the old diocese has settled down into two parts. The hope and expectation I held long ago that the two sides wold reconcile and reunite has faded away. The anti-Episcopal Church vitriol among the breakaways is as strong now, if not stronger, than it was a decade ago. This may well be a defensive strategy to mask, or rationalize, the disastrous decisions of the schism. Nevertheless, I think the Episcopal side should accept the reality that the majority of people in the breakaway congregations will not return to the Episcopal Church.
The second point is that both parts of the old diocese have consciously and decidedly rebuffed their old leadership in favor of new faces. The Episcopal diocese elected a bishop who had nothing at all to do with the history of the diocese, and in the interviews showed remarkably little knowledge of or interest in the schism. The Anglican diocese likewise nominated three candidates who had little to nothing to do with the schism.
It is entirely clear both dioceses want new leadership, and new life. I suspect this comes from a weariness with the schism. In a couple of months, it will have been nine years since the division of 2012 occurred. Even after countless court actions and millions of dollars spent, sadly there is no closure on the legal front. The Episcopal Church won in both state and federal courts. In state court, the SC Supreme Court awarded the bulk of the local properties to the Episcopal side. However, the breakaways convinced the circuit judge to ignore this and to hand over the properties to the local congregations. The Episcopal side is now in the SC Supreme Court with an appeal of the circuit judge's mind-boggling order. In federal court, a district judge in Charleston recognized the Episcopal Church as hierarchical and the Episcopal diocese as the one and only heir of the pre-schism diocese. The schismatic side then appealed this to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond, where it remains awaiting a decision of the SC Supreme Court. So, after all these years of legal warfare, people are simply exhausted and ready for new life. I suspect that explains the two elections for bishop.
THE ADVENT. The leadership of the Episcopal Cathedral Church of the Advent, in Birmingham AL, is trying its best to restore calm in the parish after the storm of the Pearson years. The Rev. Andrew Pearson, dean of the Advent until May, has not departed Birmingham. Quite the contrary, he and his spouse are busy organizing a new congregation. Pearson sent a letter to some parishioners of the Advent inviting them to join him. He has also set up a number of meetings this month obviously to encourage people to join his new church. No doubt, the concern in the Advent is how many parishioners will leave with the former dean who certainly had a devoted following of Adventers during his tenure at the cathedral.
So, here in the dying days of summer in the year 2021, we are surrounded by crisis on crisis. If you are growing fatigued of all of this, it is perfectly understandable. We long so much for life to return to "normal." Yet, this is not to be, not for the foreseeable future. Please remember, no one asked for all of this. It was given to us in our hour to live. We had no choice. What we should do now is respond the best we can in this hour of adversity. When all of this is over, we must be able to say we passed through as the people of faith we claimed to be. Peace.
Ginger (Hedychium "Beni-oiran'). This beautiful and aromatic specimen came from Hawaii, brought back by my phenomenal county agent who travels the world in search of unusual plants. Ginger is typically a tropical plant, but there are kinds that endure the winters we have.
Unusually generous rain and mild weather have resulted in a robust and lush garden this year. When I feel a bit troubled, I have only to go to my garden. In the Bible, life began in a garden (Eden) and, in a sense, ended in a garden (Gethsemane). Indeed, the first person to encounter Jesus after the Resurrection, Mary Magdalene, at first thought he was the local gardener. The wonders of God's great creation are all around us if we can only see them.
