"Social distancing", a subtle form of solitary confinement, should
ultimately bring us to the point where we cry out to God for
deliverance. For too long, we have practiced "divine distancing",
choosing to ignore God and remain oblivious to any relationship with
Him, even though He never is oblivious to us.
In these difficult times, now would be a perfect time for the Lord to send a revival, because we certainly need it.
Someone once observed that when Jesus is all you have, you will realize that He is all you need.
Now, for the line of thought that prompted the subject line...
Commit this quote to memory, for it is profound and timeless:
"In times of universal deceit, speaking the truth is a revolutionary act." - George Orwell
We
are living in dystopian times, heretofore seen only in that genre of
movies. Now, we long for the reality we had a mere couple of months
ago.
If you haven't already figured it out, it is
not going to be good for your mental health and overall state of being
to have the news on constantly. I didn't trust the media or the
government before this "Coronavirus outbreak", and this event has not
changed my perception of either of them. If anything, I trust them even
less now than I did, if that is even possible.
Here's a good article I just found while gathering links for alternative news sources: https://blog.nomorefakenews.
Some
suggestions for how to use this newfound time we all have on our hands,
being home-bound, our lives interrupted by nearly forced isolation (in
no particular order, just as they occurred to me)...
- turn off the news, or at least limit your exposure to it to not be emotionally draining
- avoid the major networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC) and watch Fox News instead - they're not perfect, but they're better than the others
- get your news from conservative websites like Breitbart.com, NewsWithViews.com, WorldNetDaily (wnd.com), beforeitsnews.com, nomorefakenews.com, whatreallyhappened.com, and others. (Note that even some of these should be taken in small doses, as they contain a lot of information that can, in excess, be overwhelming.)
- spend some time outside, if the weather permits, and especially if it's sunny - sunshine is a great source of vitamin D, in which we are generally deficient when spending extended time indoors
- turn off the TV and read - I know, it's become a lost art, but we need to regain some semblance of an attention span we had before TVs, computers, and cell phones began dominating our lives
- read the Bible, preferably an actual one, but online or an app on your cell phone is better than nothing
- study the Constitution - you need to know what rights we are in danger of losing (focus on the Bill of Rights)
- pray, and pray hard, fervently
- if
you must spend time on the computer, watch some informative YouTube
videos on what's really going on, before they're taken down as a result
of censorship; the people responsible for all this calamity don't like
the truth being exposed. This video is a good example - it's a bit long
(45 minutes), but worth watching - you can speed it up to 1.25 or 1.5x
its normal speed and still understand every word that's
spoken.
David Icke - The Truth Behind the Coronavirus Pandemic: COVID-19 Lockdown & the Economic Crash (warning, some strong but brief language) https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=gMTZu6_TjU8&feature=share - find streaming church services online - ours is calvaryga.com/
- stay in touch with friends & family with words of encouragement via phone, text message, or email (in that order)
- do something nice for someone else - that is always a cure for depression, because it changes our focus from inward, where we magnify our problems, to others, whom we are called to love as ourselves
- play board games, cards, etc.
- write poetry, short stories, a novel, or keep a journal - these can all be therapeutic and productive
- as much as possible, keep up daily routines to maintain your sanity; this is common survival advice, and was demonstrated in the Tom Hanks movie Castaway, where he at least made attempts at personal grooming while stranded after surviving the plan crash
- if you're going to binge watch movies on Netflix or Amazon, find positive, uplifting movies that carry messages of hope, where the protagonist prevails against a formidable enemy, overwhelming odds, endures extended hardship but survives, etc.
- never give up hope - tomorrow could be better than today...but if it isn't, the day after that could be - remind yourself of that every day
- never, never, never surrender (Winston Churchill)
- question everything - only the truth will withstand close scrutiny
God is good - He will sustain us & deliver us if we cry out to Him.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus.
In Christ,
Fred
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