Greetings!: Questions

Today there seem to be so many different opinions held by the public on a variety of topics. Many of them have centered around Trump. Should he have been impeached? Was his trial fair? Was he really guilty? Has the media been impartial? Everyone seems to have a strong opinion.

Then there are questions about the reactions to the pandemic. Can we afford all these stimulus give aways? Should we each get more of our tax money back? Should college loans be wiped out? Can the government close businesses? Can they close churches? Can they enforce the wearing of masks? Can they prevent us from going to athletic contests? Can they provide the vaccine to all who need it or want it?

But the questions that I don't understand are those about whether or not the pandemic is real. Some of my conservative friends continue to feel and express their opinion that it is fake, nothing more than a virus. It is a plot to control our minds and our bodies. They feel that we should resist the rules and especially the shots which are "being used to control us".

Now I am not smart or intelligent enough to argue these questions. But I know it has happened before. My grandfather died in the flu epidemic in 1918. That was real.

And folks are dying today at an alarming rate. More Americans have died from COVID-19 in the last year than during all of World War II and some projections show the death toll could top that of the Civil War by the beginning of summer. Lives are still being lost at a rate of about 21,000 per week. And that can't be denied.

Now I have had a number of relatives and friends who have contacted covid. Some have gotten over it without much suffering or harm, especially younger adults. But others have gone through horrendous hospital stays. Some have died.

In the past two months 17 of my friends or acquaintances have died. Every morning ou local newspaper has pages of obituaries - one day I counted 66. A cousin of mine recently passed away after a three month battle with covid. Two friends have died, three former coworkers are gone. Three of my high school classmates and two friends from church have passed. Six parents of my former students are gone. Now at my age one might expect to lose folks, but 17 of them in that short a time?

Now there are some key questions which I can't answer. First, how many of these deaths were from covid? While I suspect many more, I can only be sure of two - my cousin and our former Awana missionary. I do know that all 17 were about my age or older.

But a much more important question is where are these folks today? I know that a few of them are in heaven but I don't know about most of them. And I feel that this might be a failure on my part. Did I care enough about them to share the Gospel with them? Our lives here on earth often come to an end before we expect it so we should live our lives daily and fully for the Lord. And we should be sharing the Gospel with those around us.

Now I do believe that covid is real and I will wear a mask, social distance, avoid large crowds and get the shots if I have the chance to do so. And I will strive to live each day for the Lord and share the Gospel whenever I can.

I have been thinking of a song that I used to like to lead when I led hymn sings, worship services or retreats. I used to love to close with "When We All Get To Heaven". In those situations it was appropriate because I knew that most of the audience could join in singing with the knowledge of the truth of the words. But I believe that most churches today no longer sing about heaven. During the pandemic I have watched the streaming services of many churches and I have yet to hear one of them sing a song about heaven.

Eliza Hewitt was born in 1851 in Philadelphia and he went to school locally and graduated as Valedictorian of the Girl's Normal School. She then began teaching in the Philadelphia area. One day while overseeing her students in the playground, she, unfortunately, suffered a severe back injury and was forced to bed for months, dealing with the pain the rest of her life. Although Eliza could have been resentful, and no one would have blamed her, she felt the presence of the Lord while confined to bed. She started studying Literature and English while recovering from her injury. Barely did she know that she was being prepared by God to write poetry and hymns, and these two subjects would prove very useful.

As Eliza recovered some of her strength in later years, she was able to get around slowly. She attended the summer Methodist Camp meeting, in Ocean Grove, New Jersey. Here she met Emily D. Wilson and they formed a great friendship. They worshipped and studied together and in 1898 together created this hymn, "When We All Get To Heaven." Her back problems would arise at times and put Eliza down, but not for long. Partly because of her health problems, she was sensitive to the difficulties people face on earth and looked forward to being with Jesus in Heaven where she could have a heavenly body. She adored Sunday School and most of her hymns were intended for children in Sunday School.

Now I wish that this hymn could have been sung by all 17 of my friends who have recently passed on. My hope is that all of my readers can join in singing these words.

(1) Sing the wondrous love of Jesus,

Sing His mercy and His grace.

In the mansions bright and blessed

He'll prepare for us a place.

When we all get to Heaven,

What a day of rejoicing that will be!

When we all see Jesus,

We'll sing and shout the victory!

(2) While we walk the pilgrim pathway,

Clouds will overspread the sky;

But when traveling days are over,

Not a shadow, not a sigh.