NOTES, 21 MAY 2021
Greetings, blog reader, on Friday, May 21, 2021. This is an opportune moment to make our periodic check on the crises and issues we have been following for a long time now.
PANDEMIC. According to our usual source, Worldometers, rates of COVID-19 are dropping in the world as a whole and in the United States although there are still countries where it is spreading as wildfire, as India and Brazil. The number of new cases in the world fell from 5,464,400 in the week of May3-10 to 4,754,120 in the week of May 10-17. The number of weekly deaths is falling as well, from 90,271 (May 3-10) to 86,540 (May 10-17). As of last Monday, 3,394,817 people in the world have died in the pandemic, all in the last year and a half. Pause and let that sink in.
Numbers are also improving in America. Figures for new cases are falling steadily. There were 296,340 in the week of May 3-10, then 240,170 May 10-17. The death rate is falling too, from 4,750 (May 3-10) to 4,335 (May 10-17). As of the 17th, 600,147 Americans have died of COVID-19. This puts the present pandemic on par with the great flu pandemic of 1918-19 although percentage wise it is still far less.
South Carolina is also reporting steadily declining rates. New cases there dropped from 4,244 (May 3-10) to 4,076 (May 10-17). Still, more than 10% of the population of the Palmetto State has been infected by the coronavirus. Deaths fell from 72 (May 3-10) to 61 (May 10-17). As of last Monday, 9,653 South Carolinians have died of the virus. Charleston County, however, had an unsettling jump in new cases, 396 (May 10-17), up from the 270 of the previous week. Deaths remained at 3, the same as the earlier week.
Alabama also had an unnerving surge in new cases last week when it reported 9,095 (May 10-17), up from the 2,421 of May 3-10. The cause of this jump remains a mystery although it is known that AL is one of the most vaccine-hesitant states in the country with inoculation rates far below the national average. The state death rate remains nearly the same, 65 (May 3-10) and 60 (May 10-17).
In the country as a whole, vaccination rates are soaring. As of 17 May, 37% of Americans were fully vaccinated. Signs indicate that the herd immunity rate of 70% is in sight. About 60% of the people have had at least one shot.
On the whole, there is every reason to believe the pandemic is on the down slope and life should be getting back to "normal" in most respects in the next few months.
LITIGATION. Still no word from the SC Supreme Court about the church case on the justices' desks. The last briefs were submitted two and a half months ago. Crickets. The longer this silence goes on, the more I think the justices will not hold a hearing and will render a written decision. If so, God only knows when that would be. We have learned not to hold our breaths with this court as they are not known for expediency. But, in this case we do not want speed over accuracy.
THE ADVENT. There has been a lot of news of late from the Cathedral Church of the Advent, in Birmingham, and I have been trying to keep up with it as I can. The former dean has left and has joined the ACNA promising to start a new congregation of people in Bham ("friends") pulled from the Advent.
A word to the people of the Advent: we are with you. You are indeed in our thoughts and prayers. This is a hard time. There is a great deal of understandable anxiety among the clergy, staff, and laity of this great parish. This is a time of flux. Uncertainty is always unsettling. My advice to you is to take a deep breath and be patient. Things are looking up. They will improve in God's own time. Your have outstanding leadership in the interim dean, Craig Smalley, and in the bishop, Glenda Curry. Trust them. They will lead you home.
Meanwhile, my sense is that people are anxious about life getting back to "normal." The last year was hard, in so many ways. Yet, we are here. We survived. Now, as summer arrives, I suggest we all take breaks and reconnect with the wonders of the life all around us. Just recently, I treated myself to two things I love the most, a trip on the train, and a visit to a new garden. Afterwards, I felt greatly refreshed and rejuvenated. On the train, I took a day-long ride, to and from, to visit my family in Bay St. Louis MS (Anniston Al-Slidell LA on "the Crescent").
I left all my cares on the platform, got a private room, put up my feet, put pillows behind my head and watched God's verdant creation glide past my window. Along the way, I closed my eyes and relived all those wonderful trips on the train I made as a child to visit my revered grandmother in Molino FL. The fantastic steam engines I knew then are now gone from the rails, but not from my mind.
Then, last Saturday, I spent the afternoon visiting a garden new to me, the Huntsville Botanical Garden, in Huntsville AL.
This is a serenely beautiful place which I enjoyed exploring for several hours on a perfect spring day.
I think we all need a break to reconnect with what is really important to us in life. The past year has been hard. No sense in pretending otherwise. We are still plagued with one crisis after another. We are not out of the tunnel even though the light at the end is getting brighter. So, I say, as always, we are here for the living of this hour. It was given to us even though we did not ask for it. We must make the best of it. Peace.
