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The last ten

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When I sat down to write this evening, my initial plan had been to start working on this Friday’s fashion post, but something else has been weighing on my mind and I decided to go in that direction instead. I’ve written about the Christian and social media before, but tonight that’s where I found myself going again.

I’ve been using Facebook since December 2007. We were about to leave for a year-long teaching assignment in Japan and our daughter insisted that I had to have Facebook as a way of staying in touch. In fact, she actually created my account and chose my first password and profile picture! She was right. In those days, Facebook was a great way to connect with friends and family. We enjoyed exchanging news and posting photos of our families and our daily lives. I even reconnected with a few people that I had completely lost touch with over the years.

Over time, however, Facebook has morphed into something very different than it was in those early days. I don’t mind the proliferation of ads on my Newsfeed because I realize that very little in life is free and someone has to pay for this platform. No, it’s not the ads that bother me, it’s the negativity, the anger, and the misinformation. Gone are the days when people annoyed one another or flirted with one another by “poking” each other on Facebook. Now, many use social media to lash out at one another or to hurl insults at those who disagree with them. Instead of sharing our lives, we try to prove each other wrong.

So, what does the Christian do? Can we be salt and light on social media or would we be better to avoid it altogether? These were the questions that I was wrestling with in late January when I learned of a free 10-day challenge called Instagram for Jesus. Offered by an online women’s ministry called Well-Watered Women, the challenge is simply a series of 10 short emails designed to help users of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok examine their motives for using social media and the potential that it holds, as well as set life-giving boundaries. If this sounds like something that might be of interest to you, check it out and sign up here.

If I had to choose the one thing that impacted me most from the 10 short messages, it was this recommendation from Day 8, “Scroll through your last ten posts, and ask yourself what a follower would know about you through those images and words. Consider opportunities to shift that understanding to a clearer image of what it means to walk as a sinner saved by grace.” Even if you’re not a Christ-follower, that first sentence is worth considering. What do your last ten posts tell the world about you? Is that the image you want to portray? If you are a believer, is this how you’re called to represent Christ to the world? If not, what are you going to do about it? For me, the simple practice of looking at my last ten posts, which I’ve been doing from time to time since completing the challenge in February, has been an excellent way to ensure that I’m being the kind of online presence that I want to be. 

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A new job!

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My father, who died a year ago at almost 97 years old, always said of retirement that there is no end of things that you can do as long as you don’t need to be paid for them. I’m blessed to be able to follow in his footsteps. While we aren’t wealthy by any means, we are comfortable enough financially not to need to work. In the first few years of retirement, we did take paying jobs teaching English in Japan for a year and then China for several months. Since then, we’ve kept busy as volunteers in several capacities. In fact, at 68, I have just finished training for a brand new volunteer position that I’m very excited about!

I’ve often mentioned Kiva on the blog before. Kiva is a non-profit organization that allows a person to lend as little as $25 to a specific low-income entrepreneur in one of 77 countries around the world. When a loan is repaid, the money can be withdrawn or used to fund a new loan. Since making my first loan 11 years ago, I’ve been able to make 60 more by simply recycling the same money over and over again. When I learned that there was a need for volunteer editors, I realized that this might be an opportunity to put my skills into action and help in another way.

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An average of about 16,000 loan profiles are posted on the Kiva website every month. Each one needs to be carefully edited to ensure that it complies with Kiva policies, that the borrower’s privacy is maintained, that details are consistent, and that the language is understandable to lenders while retaining, as much as possible, the voice of the original text. Kiva relies on over 400 volunteers, each editing approximately 40 loan descriptions a month, to complete this enormous task. That’s my new job! I’ve joined Kiva’s Review and Translation Program as a volunteer editor! 

It was back in July of last year that I first expressed an interest in volunteering. My name was added to a wait list and I was told that I would hear from Kiva staff when they were ready to bring on new volunteer editors, probably much later in the year. In late November, I was asked to submit my resumé and complete an official application that included a brief loan review exercise. In early December, I was invited to take an editing test. Kiva works with a barebones staff and, like everyone else, they’ve been somewhat hindered by Covid slowdowns, so the wheels ground slowly, but at the beginning of February I was notified that my application was approved. At the beginning of March I started training and now I’m finally an active Kiva editor! I edited my first loan yesterday. The borrower was a farmer in Uganda who requested a loan to buy more cattle to fatten and resell.

Volunteer editors are split into teams each led by a volunteer team leader. I was assigned to a group called The Write Stuff which I find very fitting as writing has always been my passion! Kiva asks for a commitment of a minimum of 2 hours a week for at least 6 months, but I foresee being able to do this for a much longer period.

If you’re interested in making a loan, just click on the banner to the right.

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International Women’s Day 2021

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Today is International Women’s Day. It saddens me that we should even need to set aside a day to focus on women’s rights, to remind the world that women deserve equality. It was never meant to be this way. 

I’ve been focusing a lot on what the Bible has to say about womanhood in recent weeks as I’ve started leading a ladies Bible study on women of the Bible. The very first statement about women in the Bible comes in the first chapter of Genesis. Verses 27-31 say: 

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. 

Do you see what I see? First of all, we’re told that God created men and women in His own image! Both were meant to be His image bearers. Second, He gave both of them dominion over and responsibility for His creation. It was a joint assignment. God did not give men dominion over women! That was never His intention. And finally, God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. His plan was equality for men and women and it was very good. 

In chapter 2 of Genesis we’re given a more detailed creation story. Verse 18 says, “The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” The King James Version of the Bible uses the words help meet to describe the woman’s role. “Meet” is an archaic adjective meaning suitable or proper, so the phrase simply means a suitable helper. Perhaps this is where the idea that men should dominate came from, but that was never God’s intent. In the original language, the word translated as helper or help meet was ezer. Ezer is a word that appears 21 times in the Old Testament; twice in Genesis for the woman, 3 times for nations to whom Israel appealed for military aid, and 16 times to refer to God as Israel’s helper, their shield and defence. It was used consistently in a military context. That hardly brings to mind a meek or subservient helper! Perhaps strong helper would be a better translation. 

Sadly, God’s plan for a partnership between men and women didn’t play out in human history. It didn’t take long for the relationship to deteriorate to the point where women were simply possessions of their fathers or husbands, barely a step above their livestock. Their primary role was to serve the men in their lives and to produce sons to carry on their husband’s family line. 

These may be radical thoughts for a woman who attends a patriarchal church, but I’ve always been a bit of a rebel and women’s issues have been a passion of mine for a very long time. The reality is that we need to do much more than set aside one day a year to draw attention to the plight of women worldwide. It is something that needs to be addressed 365 days of the year! 

As long as there are places on this planet where parents sell their daughters because they can’t afford to feed them, where girls walk an average of 6 kilometres a day to collect clean water for their households, where they are denied education, where they are forced to undergo female genital mutilation and/or forced into child marriage, we must do more than celebrate the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women on International Women’s Day. It’s easy to turn a blind eye to the atrocities inflicted on women in foreign lands when they aren’t happening in our own backyard, but there are women living in abject poverty in Canada, the United States, and other developed countries. Objectifying and exploiting women is still alive and well in our culture. Violence against women is still prevalent. Human trafficking happens in our own neighbourhoods.  

Though the situation may have improved over the years, women have yet to achieve equality in the workplace. As a current example, women are at the forefront of the battle against Covid-19 as front-line and health sector workers, scientists, doctors and caregivers, yet according to a UN report, they get paid 11 percent less globally than their male counterparts!  

What, then, can we do to press for progress for women? First of all, we need to educate ourselves, to look beyond our comfortable lives and become aware of what the issues are and which reputable organizations are working to change them. If you’re serious about wanting to have an impact on the lives of women around the world, I would suggest that you begin by reading Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, by Pulitzer Prize winning journalists Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. This book was a life changer for me. Kristof and WuDunn are upfront and clear; they hope to recruit their readers to get involved, to become a part of a movement to emancipate and empower women by helping provide the economic resources that can help transform their lives.  Half the Sky not only inspires the reader to get involved, it gives many suggestions how.

It was after reading Half the Sky that I began making micro loans to women in third world countries through Kiva, the world’s first online micro-lending platform. It’s one small step, but it’s something I can do. Kiva is a non-profit organization that allows a person to lend as little as $25 to a specific low-income entrepreneur in one of 77 countries around the world. When a loan is repaid, the money can be withdrawn or used to fund a new loan. I choose to lend to women with children at home. All too often, money in the hands of men goes to alcohol and prostitution but in the hands of women, it nurtures children, feeds families and promotes education.

It’s International Women’s Day. What will you do? 

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What’s your thing?

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Yesterday’s post included this quote from Donna McNutt, Instagram’s Cancer Fashionista, “It has now become my mission to tell others, find your thing, the thing that makes you whole, do not let cancer take it.” 

For me, that thing, apart from my faith, is writing. Fashion is fun. Travel is a passion. Reading, dancing, golfing, camping, hiking, kayaking, keeping fit, and participating in community theatre are all things I enjoy doing, but writing is the one thing I have to do. Long before cancer, writing was who I am.  

I first knew this in Mr. Geary’s grade 12 English class. I knew it in university when I loved the hours and hours spent researching and writing papers. I knew it when, as a young stay-at-home mom, I put my babies down for their afternoon naps, pulled out my typewriter, and worked on a correspondence course on non-fiction technique offered by the Alberta Culture Film and Literary Arts division. I knew it when, as a member of the now defunct Flagstaff Writers organization (Alberta, not Arizona), I had occasional pieces published in our column in the local weekly paper. I knew it when I sold a few articles to larger publications and savoured the feeling of a cheque in my hands. 

When my children were a bit older and I returned to teaching school, I discovered that there simply weren’t enough hours in the day for writing. Thankfully, for that period of time, passing on my love of reading and writing to my students fulfilled the same passion in me. As soon as I retired, however, the need to write was back. I’d always assumed that I would return to freelance writing, but then came blogging. As many of you know, I started Following Augustine to share our year of teaching English in Japan with friends and families at home. I had no idea then that it would still be going strong more than a decade later! 

Though receiving those cheques for published articles was nice, I discovered that I didn’t need to sell my writing to feel fulfilled by it. I just need to know that someone enjoys reading it. That’s one of the reasons that I haven’t attempted to monetize the blog. I prefer to maintain the freedom to write whatever I want without having to consider whether or not it’s consistent with the values of the brands that I’d be representing. For me, writing is not a job, it’s simply who I am.  

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Now, back to Donna’s wise advice, “find your thing, the thing that makes you whole, do not let cancer take it.” How has writing been part of my cancer journey? Has it helped me cope? There’s no question that cancer added another dimension to the blog. Within three days of hearing that I had cancer in August 2013, I’d published my first post about it and I’ve lived my cancer journey out loud on Following Augustine ever since. There are several reasons for that. First of all, since the blog was already well established and read by many of my close family and friends, it was an easy way to keep them informed about what was happening without having to repeat myself over and over again. Second, because writing is who I am, it helps me process the things that are happening in my life. That’s incredibly important when you’re dealing with something as complex and confusing as cancer and its treatment. And third, I’ve tried to use the blog to raise awareness of neuroendocrine cancer (NETs) which, while no longer rare, is still relatively unknown. Cancer is not who I am, but writing is!  

And now it’s your turn. What is that one thing that makes you whole; the one thing that you have to do? Have you found it yet? Please let us know in the comment section. 

One Word for 2021

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For the past few years I’ve chosen one word to inspire or guide me in the coming year as well as a scripture verse to go along with it. There’s actually a whole #OneWord365 movement on the internet urging members to choose a word to focus on every day, all year long; a word that sums up who they want to be or how they want to live.

My one word for 2020 was Bold. I wanted the boldness of the early disciples who shared their faith in spite of great opposition. I wanted the courage to confront injustice and stand up for the downtrodden. I wanted to boldly speak up for what I believed in or knew to be true. That led me to my one word for 2021.

Truth

The dictionary defines truth as that which is in accordance with fact or reality.

There seems to be very little of that going around these days! In fact, fake news, propaganda, and false information seem to spread faster than Covid-19! I have an insatiable desire to grow in wisdom, knowledge, and understanding; to know the truth about anything that affects my life. Perhaps it’s simply a reaction to having been the victim of lies and deception in the past, but I abhor falsehood of any kind.   

When I see something online that I’m unsure about or that doesn’t sound right to me, I check the facts and, in accordance with my desire to speak the truth with boldness, I often post my findings in the form of a comment or a link. This hasn’t always been popular. In fact, one acquaintance called me the “resident fact checker” in an online discussion. She clearly didn’t mean it as a compliment, but I fail to see how seeking and speaking the truth could be anything but good! Thankfully, others have expressed appreciation either online or in person and I’ve even been approached a couple of times by people looking for help in checking the validity of something they’ve read or been told. 

We live in a day of relativism; the idea that you can have your truth and I can have mine. That isn’t actually truth at all; that’s belief or opinion. Unfortunately, belief doesn’t create fact. Truth is independent of belief. Being able to discern between fact and opinion, between news and editorial, between truth and belief, is a very important skill.  American politician, sociologist, and diplomat, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, was quoted as saying, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.” 

Accepting that absolute truth exists is an essential foundation of Christianity. God was very clear in the Bible that what He revealed was truth. In John 14:6, Jesus declared, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” That’s either true or it isn’t. It can’t be true for some and not for others. 

There are many other Bible verses about truth, so choosing one to accompany my one word for 2021 was challenging. I finally settled on 2 Timothy 2:15, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”

That’s what I want to focus on in 2021, correctly handling the truth. Not just Biblical truth, but all truth. 

Have you ever chosen a word to inspire or guide you in a new year? What would your word for 2021 be?

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The Four

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Occasionally a piece of art speaks to my heart. That was certainly true of The Four by American artist, Tricia Robinson, when I saw it for the first time yesterday. 

The Four - Tricia Robinson art

No, I wasn’t in an art gallery! Covid restrictions continue to keep me locked up at home. I actually saw the painting on Facebook! It was the vibrant colours and the simplicity of the figures that first caught my attention, but the artist’s description gave it much deeper meaning.

These four women: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba have something in common. They are grandmothers in Jesus’ family tree! Grandmothers! Some had affairs, were prostitutes, lied and were truly not the starry eyed perfect princesses.

But God chose them, used them…. These four broken women. 

And that’s why I gave them crowns. A symbol of grace and love from our Creator and Redeemer.

Christian author, Ann Voskamp, wrote this on her blog…

Four broken ­women—​­
women who felt like outsiders,
like ­has-​­beens,
like ­never-​­beens.

Women who were weary
of being taken advantage of, 
of being unnoticed
and uncherished
and unappreciated;

women who didn’t fit in, 
who didn’t know how to keep going, 
what to believe, 
where to ­go—​­
women who had thought about giving up.

And Jesus claims exactly these who are
wandering
and wondering
and wounded
and worn out as
His.

These four women can be found in the pages of the Old Testament and all are part of the genealogy of Jesus found in the first chapter of the book of Matthew. Widowed at a young age and rejected by her second husband who also suffered an early death, Tamar, was left husbandless and without children. In her culture that made her worthless. Taking matters into her own hands, through an act of deception, she bore twin sons by her father-in-law who later admitted that “she is more righteous than I.” After Israel’s 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, spies were sent into the land of Canaan and found lodging with a prostitute named Rahab. After risking her life to hide them, Rahab asked that her life and the lives of her family be spared when the Israelites invaded. In the painting, she can be seen holding the scarlet cord that she was told to tie in the window of her home to mark it. Everyone inside the house would be spared. Another young widow, Ruth, left her homeland and her pagan gods to follow her aging mother-in-law back to her homeland where she would be a foreigner and an object of curiosity. She worked tirelessly gleaning in the fields at harvest time to provide for them until she was noticed by the landowner and became his wife. She eventually became the great grandmother of King David. Bathsheba suffered untold grief when the king, in an attempt to cover up an act of lust that resulted in an unplanned pregnancy, arranged to have her first husband murdered and then took her as his own wife. I can only imagine how much worse her grief became when the child of that union died. Her second son became the great King Solomon.

Yes, these were imperfect, broken women; women who’s lives didn’t go the way of little girls’ dreams, but they are also women who were cherished by God. I can identify. When I saw the painting and understood it’s meaning, I wanted to order a print to hang in my den, my room of prayer. Unfortunately, the artist doesn’t ship to Canada, so I will have to be satisfied with having it on my computer desktop where I can look at it often and be reminded that though, I too, am somewhat flawed and have been damaged by the trials of life, I am a beloved daughter of the one true God!

Graduation Day!

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Yesterday was a very exciting day for us, but the story began many years ago when we decided to sponsor a child through New Missions. For over 30 years, New Missions has been establishing churches, medical clinics, and Christian schools in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. In addition, a Bible school and a professional trade school prepare graduates of New Missions schools to support their families and become leaders in their communities.

Marie Khetsia was a 10-year-old child in 3rd grade when we began sponsoring her. She had already lost her mother and a few years later her father also died. Khetsia and her brothers were taken in by her aunt, a woman I have come to admire greatly. Every day her aunt goes to the local market to sell her wares and provide for the needs of a household of eleven people.

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About four years ago, our relationship took on a whole new dimension when I received a Facebook friend request from her! Never in my wildest dreams did I ever expect that to happen! At first, communicating was a challenge. Our letters had always been translated for us, but now we were on our own! Her English, learned at school, was weak and my Haitian Creole non-existent. We chatted frequently though and I’m amazed at how much her English has improved. She calls us Mom and Dad and her messages almost always begin with a question about how our family is doing.

We were so proud of Khetsia when she graduated from high school, but we knew that she didn’t want her education to end there. When we approached New Missions and learned that we would be able to provide a scholarship for her to continue her education, she entered a three year laboratory technician program.

Yesterday was graduation day! This is a monumental accomplishment in a country where the adult literacy rate is only about 61%. As Facebook messages flew back and forth between us, I could sense Khetsia’s excitement all the way from Haiti! I hope she knew how excited we were too.

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    Prior to graduating, Khetsia completed a practicum at a hospital that was close enough to her village to allow her to commute each day, but at the beginning of February she begins an internship much further from home. Leaving home will be a new challenge, but one we believe she’s ready for.

    Four years ago, we decided that it was time to begin sponsoring another child. Rodolson, who lives with his family in a different Haitian village, is now 11 years old and in 5th grade. We look forward to receiving his letters just as we did Khetsia’s. If you are not already sponsoring a child or children, I urge you to consider New Missions. For just $33 a month, child sponsorship through New Missions provides a child in Haiti or the Dominican Republic with quality education, a daily hot lunch which for some is their primary meal of the day, and medical care. New Missions also provides a number of community development initiatives including clean water, vocational training and local employment, all vital in this poorest part of the western hemisphere.

    Nature’s lace

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    I’m not a big fan of winter, but without it we’d never see one of nature’s most amazing phenomenons. This post is especially for those of you who live where hoarfrost never forms.

    Unlike regular frost which is essentially frozen dew coating surfaces like rooftops and grass with a thin layer of white, hoarfrost looks like feathers growing on a variety of surfaces. Conditions have to be just right for it to form. One or more days in a row of fog with air temperatures below the freezing point is a perfect scenario. We had such a day yesterday and woke up to a beautiful display of nature’s lace this morning. A quick walk around the yard before the sun rose over the rooftops yielded some very interesting photos.

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    Hoarfrost forms when water vapour in the air comes in contact with solid surfaces that are below the freezing point and instantly crystallizes. The more moisture in the air, the more ice crystals form. Interlocking crystal patterns become more and more intricate as they build upon one another forming amazing feathery patterns on tree branches, leaves, and other surfaces. When sunlight hits them, the sight is spectacular!

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    After my second walk around the yard taking pictures this morning, hubby suggested that we go for a drive. I’m glad he did! Hoarfrost doesn’t usually last very long. The slightest breeze will send the crystals cascading to the ground and once the sun has been on them for very long they also begin to fall.

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    Mundane things like fences and power lines are transformed and look at the backstop on the school ground, a solid curtain of white!

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    It’s beautiful mornings like this one that add joy even to winter and we’ve been fortunate to have two of them this month! 

    Boxing Day

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    Our very quiet Christmas is over. Thanks to modern technology, we were able to see and chat with all our kids and grandkids, so it wasn’t as lonely as it might otherwise have been. It was also a good day to reflect on our many blessings and on the reason for the season… the babe in the manger who became the man on the cross; the One who died that we might have everlasting life.

    Today is a totally secular add-on holiday celebrated in the UK, Canada, and other Commonwealth countries. Boxing Day originated as a day to give gifts to the poor. The reason for the name seems to have been lost in the mists of time. Some say that wealthy employees would give boxes containing small gifts, money, and Christmas leftovers to their servants who were allowed time off on December 26 to visit their families. Others theorize that churches put out boxes to gather money for the poor and the proceeds were distributed the day after Christmas. In any case, the original meaning has long been lost and Boxing Day has become primarily a day for shopping after Christmas sales, much like Black Friday in the US.

    In past years, Boxing Day has been a good day to pick up electronics, toys, fitness equipment, seasonal clothing, gift sets, and all things Christmas at seriously reduced prices. It’s also been a day for pushing, shoving, and standing in long line ups in overcrowded stores. For many shoppers, Boxing Day and Boxing Week sales this year will look a little different. With Covid shutdowns or restrictions in place, much of the shopping will be done online.

    Either way, I’m with Santa… I think Boxing Day is a good day to relax after the busyness of Christmas Day! It’s also a good day for eating leftovers of which there are many in our house. In spite of the fact that there were only the two of us, I cooked our traditional Christmas dinner including a turkey! After dinner tonight I’ll be packing up meal size portions and putting them in the freezer to be enjoyed some other time.

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    So much anger!

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    We’re living in a very angry world, or so it seems to me. Everywhere we look, whether in person or on social media, people seem to be protesting or venting their anger. First it was the shutdowns, then masks, and now the prospect of a vaccine that isn’t even available yet.

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    Calgary, November 28, 2020 – Global

    What is really behind all this anger? It’s clearly a response to what’s going on in the world around us, but why so much anger? Why are so many people lashing out at one another and at those in positions of authority? I think it’s much more than being asked to wear a little piece of fabric over their mouth and nose or the thought of having to have an injection.

    There are many different emotions that might result in anger, but anxiety, sadness, fear, frustration, disappointment, and worry are some of the most common triggers and who amongst us hasn’t experienced some of those feelings in recent months? Add to that the fact that we feel like we’ve lost control of our lives. Things that we’ve always taken for granted, like spending time with family, have been taken away. For many, the things that they’ve trusted in, things that have given them a sense of security, have also been swept away. Some have lost jobs, others have had to close businesses. Some are still working, but feeling isolated at home. In addition to all of this, with the incredible amount of false information and fear mongering being spread by irresponsible “news” sources and keyboard warriors, it should be no surprise that undiscerning people are being sucked into the swirling maelstrom of fear and anger that surrounds us. The virus is everywhere. There isn’t even anywhere we can go to escape!

    Unfortunately, anger is one of the most divisive and destructive forces on the planet. It’s a poison that spreads with astonishing speed; faster perhaps than Covid itself. It turns crowds into mobs, inflicts deep wounds, and crushes the human spirit. Plus, it does absolutely nothing to alleviate the crisis that we all find ourselves in.

    Anger itself isn’t the problem; it’s what you do with it. First of all, let’s look at what NOT to do.

    Don’t be a spreader! Don’t spread the virus, don’t spread misinformation, and don’t spread anger.

    Don’t spread the virus. Whether or not you fully agree with the measures that have been recommended or mandated in your area, suck it up and cooperate. Wear the mask, stay 6 feet (2 metres) from other people, and whenever possible, stay home. We’re all in this together. The sooner we really start working together to limit its spread, the sooner we’ll have any hope of reclaiming some of the things that we’ve lost. 

    Don’t spread false information. The internet is awash with misinformation, much of it deliberately intended to mislead and to stir up fear and anger. Don’t add to the noise! Check your facts before passing something on. Chances are that your neighbour down the street or your friend from high school doesn’t know as much about epidemiology as the experts do. The lack of respect and support for doctors, scientists, and other health professionals during this pandemic is nothing short of astonishing. There is plenty of evidence to show that masks do make a difference and no, they aren’t harmful to your health. There are very, very few people who have legitimate reasons for not being able to wear one and those people should be staying home because they clearly have other issues that put them at high risk. Yes, the vaccines have been fast tracked, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re dangerous. They’ve been through the same rigorous testing as any other vaccines, but because of the urgency of the present situation, they weren’t allowed to bog down in bureaucratic red tape the way things usually do.  

    Don’t spread your anger. Denying that you’re angry or keeping it bottled up inside isn’t healthy, but taking it out on an unsuspecting cashier who’s simply attempting to do her job in trying circumstances doesn’t make the situation better. Neither does waving a protest sign or ranting on social media. 

    So what CAN we do with our anger? What SHOULD we do? 

    • Think before you speak, post or repost.
    • Find constructive ways to express your concerns clearly and directly to the right people without trying to hurt or control anyone. This might include asking questions in an attempt to seek out the truth and understand the reasons behind measures that are being recommended or mandated.
    • Take a break. That might mean taking a self-imposed time out from social media or getting outside for some fresh air and exercise.  
    • Practice relaxation. Listen to music, write in a journal, do a few yoga poses or some deep breathing exercises… whatever works for you.
    • Pray. Pray for wisdom, understanding, and grace. Pray for those in positions of authority who are daily faced with making incredibly difficult decisions. 
    • Do something positive for someone else. Instead of writing that Facebook rant, why not write a note of encouragement to someone? Instead of attending a protest rally, look for an opportunity to volunteer in your community. 
    • Know when to seek help. If your anger feels out of control, reach out to a mental health professional. 

    I’m as eager as the next person to see this pandemic come to an end, but I’m equally anxious to see us pull together and rise above the overwhelming flood of anger that threatens to crush us all.