By Richard Riehl

Twenty years ago, Karen awakened me in the middle of the night to tell me she had a sharp pain in her stomach. When the pain became unbearable I drove her to the hospital. We discovered she was suffering from a twisted and blocked intestine that would need immediate, life saving, surgery.
I had never felt so helpless in the hours I spent in the waiting room, paging aimlessly through magazines, awaiting the results. Thanks to a very skilled surgeon, Karen was out of the hospital in five days.
Today, after 130 days confined to our condo, I’m beginning to feel a little like I did that night, except for the mindless paging through magazines.
But the feeling of helplessness is there, the spread of the virus giving no evidence of slowing down. The refusal, by the young and healthy, to wear face coverings and practice social distancing on beaches and in bars, is largely responsible.
The latest example of this occurred on Sunday, July 26, with an estimated 1,250 of the young and healthy gathered on Cardiff Beach to protest California’s Statewide Public Health Officer Order of July 13, announced by Governor Newsom.
Counties that currently appear on the California Director of Public Health’s County Monitoring List (San Diego) …must close all indoor operations of the following types of businesses/events/activities: a. Gyms and Fitness Centers b. Places of Worship c. Protests d. Offices for Non-Critical Infrastructure Sectors e. Personal Care Services (including nail salons, massage parlors, and tattoo parlors) f. Hair salons and barbershops g. Malls.
The order was based on science, the latest reports of the spread of virus cases in San Diego County, as well as guidelines issued by infectious disease doctors on how to stop it.
The protest was based on the preference of the organizer, Pastor Barry Sappington of Crosspointe Life Church, La Mesa, to hold religious services within his own church building.
Other pastors throughout the nation have found ways to conduct services online or outside, requiring all to wear masks.
I have a friend in Indiana who proudly sings regularly during YouTube services at his church, where the pastor, the organist, and Chuck all wear masks.
Pastor Sappington, himself, uses YouTube to deliver his sermons.
The pastor and his congregant protesters are putting us all at risk, especially those of us of a certain age.
I wonder what Jesus would say about that?
The Riehl World
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