Mental Health Monday

TRENDING

• "Soccer club uses sex dolls to fill empty seats at home" Drudge Report, 5/18
• "Chick-Fil-A temporarily changes slogan to "Eat fewer bats" Babylon Bee, 5/18

A REMINDER

Sometimes my Mental Health MON blog is meant to share information & insights regarding mental health. Sometimes my blog is for my own mental health.

LOOSE ENDS

"The Lord didn't create the earth & then abandon it. He is intimately invsolved with sustaining it. He watches over what belongs to Him. My Lord doesn't like loose ends! He not only sustains His cration; He watches over me too & allows me to reflect His creativity."  Don Wyrtzen, Men's Devotional Bible

LEARNING FROM EXPERIENCE

"The only way to learn anything from an experience is to have accurate information about it when you’re through it. It’s called “learning from your mistakes.” People do it all the time. It’s how we get better as human beings. Thomas Edison reportedly said, “I didn’t fail. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work,” about creating the lightbulb. Politicians, on the other hand, are incapable, or at least unwilling, of learning from the mistakes they’re making because they believe they’re benefiting from the disinformation. And we’re all going to suffer because of it."  Derek Hunter, Townhall, 5/17

GOD'S PROMISE

"It is often in these harrowing moments—your parents' divorce, your child's birth, the death of a loved one—where God leaves a defining mark. There is reason you remember such moments so vividly. We have a choice to hear or to ignore, but regardless, God's voice cries out in our memories: I was there. God has been in our past. God is here today. God will be there in our future. We have this promise in the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ . . . 

"William Shakespeare once reasoned, "Love sought is good, but given unsought is better." How do you know that God loves you? While you and I were yet wandering, Christ was wandering after us, pursuing us, even by way of the cross: love seeking the lost in human flesh. It is this sacrifice that stands as the greatest marker in all time."

Ravi Zacharias, Slice of Infinity

CORONAVIRUS

"COVID-19 is an extremely dangerous virus. It will almost certainly be one of the top five leading causes of death in the United States this year, and may remain in the top five for years to come. But people are reaching the ends of their tethers with lockdowns. Amid the most massive job losses since the Great Depression, people sense that some draconian health measures aren’t worth the squeeze. Mass protests and noncompliance may be rare for now, and the lockdowns continue to enjoy substantial support in principle. But opinion varies widely from region to region and between rural and urban areas. As Scott Rasmussen has pointed out, a large majority of people think that every business that establishes safe social distancing should be allowed to reopen. Public officials struggling to find the right balance of health measures need to realize that the public will soon start making those choices for them.

"Dr. Anthony Fauci has said that the virus will determine the timetable for reopening, but that simply cannot be true. Rates of infection, mortality, and immunity are of course crucial factors in getting the policy right, but the most crucial factor of all is public choice. It is people who will decide when to reopen, what safety measures are reasonable, and what risks — to themselves and others — are worth taking. Government officials face a difficult set of incentives. They are held responsible for the impacts of both the virus and the measures taken in response to it. Their interest in political survival will make them increasingly sensitive to popular sentiment. It is worth asking whether public opinion should have such a decisive impact on health policy. But it does, whether we like it or not."  Mario Loyola, National Review Online, 5/18

"The greatest problem with the state of our political discourse is the degeneration of every topic of debate into a battle for ideological purity. As each side seeks the approval of their respective purity mob, the two rapidly diverge, putting an end to any hope for compromise. As we meander our way through the immediate aftermath of the initial coronavirus outbreak, compromise has never been more important. Yet, many continue to dig their heels ever deeper, as their opponents do the same, thereby shutting down the path to common progress and common solutions.

"The debate surrounding how and when we should end the varying levels of lockdown across the country has been as fierce and divisive as any other subject of political discussion in recent times. Across the spectrum, people have strong opinions on when businesses should be permitted to re-open, how we should handle the potential resurgence of cases after the summer months, and what role “experts” should play when it comes to defining policy."  Ian Haworth, Townhall, 5/18