Can 2021 Be Any More Crazy?

So every year I say something like I did last year:"Each year seems to reach peak craziness, only to be outdone by the following year." Well, 2020 has given a whole new meaning to "peak craziness". "It's 2020" became the catch-all phrase in reaction to events.

As we began the year, reports were surfacing about a respiratory related coronavirus originating in the city of Wuhan, China. While the reports sounded ominous, there have been other pandemics over the years that never seemed to really impact daily life, at least here in the United States. Well, by March, the world was definitely turned upside down by the Covid 19 coronavirus pandemic and the measures being taken to try and control it. As the disease continues to spread and vaccines and other measures are coming online to counter it, questions are raised as to how far protective measures can infringe on individual and community rights, along with what are the most reasonable and effective strategies for dealing with this situation.

Outbursts of social and racial unrest and a divisive presidential campaign and election that has raised more questions than it has apparently answered also marked this wild year. More than ever, the divisions in society are largely defined by the lack of shared confidence in sources of information, as established and alternate sources of news seem to be more about triggering emotions than in provoking thinking. Attempts to marginalize and even censor information by some social media platforms only further inflame distrust and division.

Even with all of the political and social upheaval going on, amazing progress continues to be made in medicine, technology and other fronts. Some amazing advances in space were made this year as astronauts launched into orbit from the US for the first time since 2011, robotic missions were launched toward Mars by three nations, and Elon Musk's company SpaceX continued rapid development of a next generation space vehicle named "Starship" at a once sleepy beach town of Boca Chica, TX.

Well, personal lives and human history are seldom phased conveniently by the calendar, so there's no guarantee that 2021 won't match or exceed the craziness of 2020. Nevertheless, may we continue to make headway in protecting life and defending liberty while respecting the dignity of every person despite our differences. And may God's blessings and peace be upon you and yours and wishing all the best in this new year of 2021 and the amazing decade to come.

Have a Holy and Merry Christmas!

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus
that the whole world should be enrolled.
This was the first enrollment,
when Quirinius was governor of Syria.
So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town.
And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth
to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem,
because he was of the house and family of David,
to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.
While they were there,
the time came for her to have her child,
and she gave birth to her firstborn son.
She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger,
because there was no room for them in the inn.

Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields
and keeping the night watch over their flock.
The angel of the Lord appeared to them
and the glory of the Lord shone around them,
and they were struck with great fear.
The angel said to them,
"Do not be afraid;
for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy
that will be for all the people.
For today in the city of David
a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord.
And this will be a sign for you:
you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes
and lying in a manger."
And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel,
praising God and saying:
"Glory to God in the highest
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."

Luke 2:1-14

Hanukkah and Our Attitude about the Future

(This is a post I originally made in 2003 and feel is worth repeating each year, especially in light of some very dark anti-human views of the future vs. ongoing and emerging developments that can provide resources, from the Earth and from other locations in the Solar System and beyond, for future generations.)

Rabbi Daniel Lapin has a provocative column in WorldNetDaily on a message of Hanukkah that is relevant to people of all faiths. He shows examples, ancient and modern, of how a pessimistic Malthusian worldview has been repeatedly disproved by the Creator's providence of material resources and the ingenuity to utilize them to provide for the future. Rabbi Lapin says:

It only seemed that we lacked sufficient copper, whale oil or wood. In reality, our God-given ingenuity developed exciting new technology that eliminated our need for each commodity just as it was becoming scarce.

Hanukkah's miracle was that, day after day, the Temple's menorah just kept on burning in spite of an apparent shortage of fuel - a metaphor, surely, for all apparent shortages that can be overcome with faith. Hanukkah invites us all to express gratitude to the Creator whose beneficence is boundless. It stimulates discussions that can spur our spiritual growth. It reminds us that with His gift of creativity, challenges become optimistic opportunities to partner with God in creatively solving all material shortage.