The Way and the Coronavirus

[Twinky]

Well said, T-Bone.  

I checked on my own and other churches' websites.  Individual churches don't put Coronavirus up there in big lights , though read on and you'll see the requirements for attending (or not!) services.  But on the Headquarters sites for the C of E, Methodists, RCs, their Coronavirus policy is right up there.  How to behave in church, what can and cannot be done, everything.

Perhaps TWI doesn't allow anybody on site any more?  So they don't need a policy for visitors.  Perhaps everyone at HQ is one great big bubble (from the CV PoV) and they think they don't need more? (ha! deliveries, anyone?).  Perhaps there are no twigs or household fellowships or whatever the current buzzword is, so there doesn't need to be a policy for household group leaders?  Or is everything done by Zoom these days?  (d'you suppose they know what Zoom is?)

I checked on the church site for a large US church that is patronized by a former poster here.  Their CV policy is right up there on the front page.  Doesn't go quite far enough in my opinion, but hey, there is a policy and it does include requirements to wear a mask (though that seems to be optional) and they have sanitizing stations about and they disinfect between services.  I don't know about other churches in the US; so many seem to be stand-alones without central governance (like a certain cornfield cult).

 

But you're right, T-Bone.  There could be TWI's take on spiritual aspects of CV (for what that might be worth). 

Maybe it's like their policy on HIV.  HIV was judgment on homosexuals and if you didn't do that thing, you wouldn't get HIV.  Yeah, right.   

Maybe if we don't breathe the air around us, we won't get coronavirus.

[Twinky]

Oh, I would like to share one bit of good news.

My nearly-92 year old mother had a short spell in hospital after she tripped over her zimmer frame.  They wanted to arrange some home care for her to try to improve her walking ability and kept her in for a week, during which time she contracted coronavirus.  This was detected by a daily temperature check on the ward. 

When the week, or 8 days, or whatever, was up they discharged her to me (complete with coronavirus), saying they'd do a care assessment later (but getting the care assessment was the reason for the bloody delay!! she could have been out the next day after her check-up.  Grr!!).  She was very weak, lay in bed all the time, and needed a lot of close and very personal attention from me.

That was five weeks ago, that she caught it.  And four weeks since she came back to me.

I haven't had any symptoms of anything.

Mum didn't have any symptoms either, it was just the high temp when she was on the ward.  She has had two or three positive tests, so must have had it.  No cough, no high temp (I also checked regularly).  Once she thought she could smell gas in my house in a part where there is no gas.  She has been extremely tired, but she was tired before, having only a couple of weeks beforehand got over bronchitis, which kept her bedbound.  Many people who have contracted CV have said they're extremely fatigued; it's hard to tell what's CV-related from what might be normal after a debilitating illness.

You'd think that with existing respiratory and heart difficulties, and limited mobility, my mum would be in very poor condition to fight off CV.  But she has!  Well done, mum!!

She wants to live to be at least 95.  Another three years to go, then.  Why not? 

[T-Bone]

Hi, Twinky,

glad to hear that your mother is doing okay.       Wow - she sounds like a real fighter and she is fortunate to have such a compassionate daughter as you…and that leads me back to your previous post – which I totally agree with - I wasn’t thinking that TWI (or any religious group for that matter) should put coronavirus in big lights nor should they advertise that they have all the answers. I think some churches could learn a lot from you and your church in the way you provide hope and direction which is simply leading by compassionate example - helping others while following WHO guidelines during the pandemic.

 

Edited December 31, 2020 by T-Bone
revision

[Rocky]

17 hours ago, T-Bone said:

To end my post on a positive note -  I’m thankful for the scientists, doctors, nurses, first-responders, frontline/essential workers, civic leaders, religious groups, secular groups, businesses, factories, truck drivers, shipping companies, folks who work in the restaurant industry, postal workers and any other individuals I forgot to mention who respect the science and the facts - who have compassion and empathy - and who do their part in the war on the coronavirus.

 

Indeed. Thanks for reminding anyone who reads this thread that it certainly does no good to blame those who get infected, especially those who die from covid, for whatever transgression they may think caused those people to lose God's protection. 

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew 5:44-46&version=NIV

⁴⁴ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. ⁴⁶ If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?

[Twinky]

I just have to shout about this.  Mum has gone home from hospital today.  No visitors allowed, so most days I've gone to visit and stand at her window (she was on the ground floor) and rang her mobile phone.  We chatted and she would wave to me.

But today, she was all ready in her going-home clothes, big jacket and all.  The nurse saw me and offered to bring mum to sit in a seat at the window, and opened the window so that we could chat better.  It only opens a few inches, lets air but no people in or out.  But we could talk properly.  It was soooo nice.  Mum was walking well (for her) and lucid (not the screaming, abusive nutcase she was when she stayed with me and before she was re-hospitalised).  She looked better than she has done in several months.    When the transporting ambulance arrived, the nursing staff fetched her but before she went, we were able to touch hands through the open window and I stroked her face.

My heart swelled with joy and I am near to tears as I write this.  It may be some months before I'm able to see her in the flesh - she lives 150 miles away, but travel into and out of her area is banned.

It's a good start to the new year.

May the joy of this blessing be upon all those who have loved ones in hospital - whether with coronavirus or something else.

[T-Bone]

That's sweet, Twinky - thanks for sharing.

[chockfull]

Twinky that is awesome story of your mom.  This pandemic sure challenges my mental health.  Hope your mom feels all the love through all of the obstacles to expressing it.

The good thing about the pandemic is all Christians are upping their online church game.  
 

This means finding a better church than the Way gets easier every month.

[Twinky]

Thanks, Chockfull.

Our service is available online (live or catch-up) and we have people joining from various places in Europe on an irregular basis, likewise once or twice someone from America.  I'd guess that these foreign participants are friends of people in the church, or have attended in person in the past.  We're not the sort of church that'd naturally have a big non-local draw.  In fact, being deeply embedded in, and serving, our communities, is what we're all about.

Church | Holy Trinity Combe Down | Bath (htcd.church)

Services available Live Stream or on YouTube (Catch-Up)

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