As of the end of February 2021, the word had recorded 114,681,354 COVID-19 coronavirus cases and 2,542,827 deaths. The statistics for the U.S. were 29,255,365 cases and 525,778 deaths. For the State of Minnesota, 485,000 cases and 6,551 deaths. [1]
Now good news about the COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic. Worldwide, 244 million vaccine does have been provided with 53.5 million people fully vaccinated. For the U.S.: 75.2 million doses and 24.8 million fully vaccinated. For the State of Minnesota, 1.39 million; and 454,000 fully vaccinated people.[2]
Last week another vaccine, this one by Johnson & Johnson, joined vaccines by Pfizer and Moderna that have been approved for use in the U.S.[3]
Moreover, the numbers of new cases and deaths are decreasing in Minnesota and many other parts of the U.S. although there is concern that the numbers might be increasing again.[4]
This blogger and his wife are thankful that they have not contracted the COVID-19 coronavirus and by the end of this week, as senior citizens, both of us will have had two doses of the Pfizer vaccine. We also are thankful that our immediate family members have not contracted the coronavirus and pray for their continued good health and eventually becoming eligible for the vaccinations.
I also continue to find comfort and spiritual renewal in this stressful Pandemic by attending virtual worship services and adult education programs at my Minneapolis church, Westminster Presbyterian.
Biblical Text for Recent Worship Service
The lives of the 500,000 Americans who have died from COVID-19 were memorialized in the February 28th worship service at Westminster.
The Biblical text for the day was from the Christian Bible’s Old Testament’s Book of Lamentations (1: 1-4), which generally is thought to have been written by the Prophet Jeremiah to mourn the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. Here is that passage:
“How lonely sits the city
that once was full of people!
How like a widow she has become,
she that was great among the nations!
She that was a princess among the provinces
has become a vassal.
She weeps bitterly in the night,
with tears on her cheeks;
among all her lovers
she has no one to comfort her;
all her friends have dealt treacherously with her,
they have become her enemies.
Judah has gone into exile with suffering
and hard servitude;
she lives now among the nations,
and finds no resting place;
her pursuers have all overtaken her
in the midst of her distress.
The roads to Zion mourn,
for no one comes to the festivals;
all her gates are desolate,
her priests groan;
her young girls grieve,
and her lot is bitter.”
The Sermon, “Listening to Lament” [5]
The sermon, “Listening to Lament,” by Senior Pastor Tim Hart-Andersen, featured the lighting of 50 candles and the naming of 50 Americans, chosen at random, each to honor 10,000 of the 500,000 deceased.
The Pastor emphasized that each of these people had unique lives that will be missed by their relatives and friends and that lamenting their dying was important for all of us. He recalled he and his wife’s visiting the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., which has the names of the 58,318 Americans who were killed during that war engraved on a granite wall, and observing people standing near the names of their loved ones on the wall and crying.
The Pastor also said that this honoring the 500,000 was also an occasion to express gratitude for their lives, to acknowledge the resilience of their survivors in many ways, to recognize and help the many partners each of us as individuals and as a community of faith have, to continue to be engaged in efforts to improve the justice of our health system and access to medical care and vaccines and to say thanks for the generosity of many people helping others and our communities of faith.
===========================
[1] COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic,worldometer.
[2] Vaccine doses overview, Our World in Data.
[3] Weiland & LaFraniere, F.D.A. Clears Johnson & Johnson’s Shot, the third Vaccine for U.S., N.Y. Times (Feb. 27, 2021).
[4] Snowbeck, Minnesota’s COVID cases are down, but for how long?, StarTribune (Feb. 27, 2021); Cunningham & Hawkins, Global coronavirus numbers edging back up after weeks of decline, says WHO, Wash. Post (Mar. 2, 2021); Greve, CDC chief warns of ‘potential fourth surge’ and warns US to keep Covid rules, Guardian (Mar. 1, 2021); Reuters, Decline in Coronavirus “May Be Stalling,’ C.D.C. Director Warns (Video),N.Y. Times (Feb. 26, 2021).
[5] The video and bulletin for the service are online. The text of this sermon will be added to the Westminster website.
