Perhaps It Is In Darkness That We Are Most Aware of the
Resurrection
Resurrection
APRIL 12, 2020
by Kylee Zempel
A pandemic rages, and death is everywhere.
It looms overhead like a low, dark cloud. It drowns out our church bells and voices and mocks us. Everything bears its witness: empty halls and dark storefronts and absent grandparents and sterile shields where smiles used to be. Streets are too silent and thoughts are too loud. One, two, 800, 100,000 gone — the toll rise.
Friends and paychecks disappear, leaving only vices. Morale sinks low as screen time skyrockets. Another hour lost, another drink consumed. Goodbye to gyms, hello to binging.
One girl looks longingly at the cap and tassel she’ll never wear. A young man says goodbye to his father, so recently in remission. New parents weep quietly, separated from their little one in the NICU. A bride puts away her gown, and with it a lifelong dream. Only uncertainty is certain now. Only death seems to grant rest from the unrest.
Look for the light at the end of the tunnel — the conventional wisdom. But these are unconventional days. The tunnel extends on and on, growing darker with each lay-off, each citation, each cough, each headline. Where is the light?
Today, church gathering places are vacant. This holy day, light filters through stained glass and falls on empty pews, while brothers and sisters around the world are kept apart. Communion and fellowship are condemned. We know that love regards the health of others, but what about spiritual health? What about souls? We succumb to more darkness and more death.
But darkness has swallowed up the light before, when 2,000 years ago the Savior we celebrate was crucified. Sin and death prevailed that day. The earth shook, and the rocks split, and the grave swallowed the King.
What weight and what dread that a longed-for Messiah would come only to die a gruesome death. So much for hope. So much for deliverance. The light at the end of the tunnel was snuffed out when the Light of the World was crucified.
But it was finished.
The grave could not defeat life. Darkness could not overcome Light. A beam pierced the black tomb as the stone was rolled away, revealing only grave clothes in the dust. “He is not here, for he is risen, as he said.”
He is risen indeed, sitting in glory next to the Father. The same power that raised him now lives in those who place their trust in him and yield to his will, longing for his imminent return.
The Light of the World crushed sin and darkness, robbing their power and bringing new life to dead sinners without hope — and not only life, but life abundant and eternal.
Maybe it’s in the darkest of days that we’re most aware of the resurrection — and more in search of the Light.
Oh, death, where is your sting? Oh, hell, where is your victory?
Kylee Zempel is an assistant editor at The Federalist. Follow her on Twitter @kyleezempel.
Death isn't everywhere. Total Deaths due to Flu, Pneumonia, and COVID dropped this week from 44,000 to 26,000...
ReplyDeleteYes There's a wickedness in the way the Merchants of Anxiety, Fear, economic Paralysis and Sensationalism are shamelessly exploiting a relatively minor, possibly routine medical crisis in order to gain political power while defaming and trying to undermine President Trump.
DeleteHow do YOU feel about Anthony Fauci, FJ? Do you think he's letting himself be used as a Cat's Paw by the Enemies of Freedom and Representative Democracy, or is he merely committed to total dependence on the Scientific Metho as his fans and apologists vigorously claim?
I have to admit I can't be sure.
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DeleteI wouldn't give you $.02 for Fauci's recommendations. He's a Deep State bureaucrat steeped in Corporate Medicine's business model that either must have a pill or a vaccine to "treat" the problem before they can admit that a placebo would have been just as effective.
DeleteClytemnestra O'Toole said:
ReplyDeleteDeath is unreal. It's nothing more than a passage from on stage of life to another. A kind of metamorphosis.
We have no reason to fear death at all.
Jesus proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt, but people cling to the belief in mortality, because a lot of hard-bitten, cyclical un-belieers are making tons of money exploiting peoples' fear of the Unknown
Thanks for the good article.
Mary Baker Eddy said:
ReplyDelete"There is no life, truth, intelligence or substance in matter. All is infinite mind and it's infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-All. Spirit is immortal truth. Matter is mortl error.Spirit is the real and eternal. matter is the unreal and temporal. Spirit is God and Man is His image and likeness, therefore therefore Man is not material. he is spiritual."
Holy Mary, Mother of God said:
ReplyDeleteDr. Shiva Ayyadurrai, a vastly learned man, an expert in virology, with degrees from MIT and oter esteemed universities, has come out foursquare against Dr. Anthony Fauci, naming him as a long-entrenched Swamp Creature and dedicated Etablishment tool.
Dr. Ayyadurrai's testimony, now posted at Who's Your Daddy?, is plausible. I , myself, have sensed a certain tendentiousness in Dr. Fauci's inveterately pessimistic, always alarming public statements, but the virus is real, certainly not an illusion, and I know one person, the husband of one of my friends, a man in his mid-fifties, who was diagnosed with the virus, then hospitalized in Boston. The fellow spent twenty days in the ICU on a ventilator. It was touch and go. Fortunately, he has survived, and hss been taken off the ventilator, but he must remain in hospital for an indeterminate period undergoing intense physical and dietary therapy to rebuild his immune system and get back enough strength to return to isolation with his wife and teenage daughter in their cramped apartment. No mention of returning to work. Nothing yet that would encourage this family to believe he ever will, because his job is likely to disappear before he could hope to get back to it.
I know these people pretty well, and so I can't believe there is anything bogus about this case or any others like it.
But I have to agree with Dr. Ayadurrai that there can be no doubt that the Washington Establishment, better known a the Swamp, has a vested interest in doing everything it can to disredit President Trump and lessen jhis chances of getting reelected.
There have been too many coincidences in the long series of undending attacks on Mr. Trump for this Virus Crisis not to have been cynically exploited, if not invented in a Chinese laboratory, as the latest and most powerful ploy to date to unseat the president while simultaneously terrorzing the nation into giving up constitutionally mandated freedoms in the name of Public Safety.
The wickednss of the Left, and the foolishness of the scared rabbits who surrender to their evil schemes aimed at securing permanent dictatorial power, is so vast it can't be measured.
Better DEAD than RED. Remember that, and as Franklin said, "They who can give up essential liberties for a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty, nor safety."
Christ has risen from the dead. Only He has the power to save us from our stupidity, venality and corruption.
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DeleteAnna Prophylaxis said:
ReplyDeleteWhere did you find that image of the Cross?
It's mot distnguished and very beautiful.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteThank you, Anna There is a great wealth of images readily available –– free of charge z-- on Google. You do have to know what to ask for, however. In this case we simply Googled "THE CROSS IMAGES," and dozens of pictures showed up instantly.
DeleteWe had to look at many of them (perhaps fifty or sixty) for about half an hour before we found the one that attracted you.
Pulling the image off to the desktop, labelling it conveniently, then transferring it to the blog where we can adjust the size to fit the post optimally is all there is to it.
I'm sure it sounds more complicated than it is. ;-)
GOOD NEWS! ... GOOD NEWS! ... GOOD NEWS!
ReplyDeleteDOWZUP FIVE-HUNDRED-FIFTY-EIGHT TODAY 4/14/2020
23,949.76 +558.99 (2.39%)
RECOVERY may be SLOW and ARDUOUS, but it IS beginning to happen, thank God!
Wonderful news!
DeleteWe'l have to see whaat tomorrow my bring, of course, Andie, but even if it slides back a few hundred points, the new direction does seem to be trending upward.
DeleteWe must Watch and Pray while we cultivate optimism –– a state of mind that brings healing nad srengthening powers that help to fulfill the Promise of Easter.
THINGS REALLY ARE LOOKING UP IN THE MARKETPLACE:
DeleteDOW FUTURES for TODAY 4/17/2020
UP SEVEN-HUNDRED POINTS.
Let's see how it turns out at 4:00 PM.
The Light of the World crushed sin and darkness, robbing their power and bringing new life to dead sinners without hope — and not only life, but life abundant and eternal.
ReplyDeleteAmen!
Franco,
ReplyDeleteI have a great deal of confidence in Dr. Fauci -- especially after the statement he made on Monday during the daily coronavirus briefing at the White House.
Did you happen to see that briefing on Monday?
I didn't. I'm beyond bored to tears with the endless repetitious, dull-wited "reportage" on this damned Chinese Plague.
DeleteSo far Dr. Fauci has been doggedly and grimly pessimistic. His outlook has consistently appeared bleak and almost hopeless.
He ADMITS that he doesn't undrsand conomics, therefore he's been oblvious to the dire implications of continuing to "play it safe" for an indeterminate period of time.
There WILL coma "CROSSOVER POINT" where the depredations from the Wuhan Plague are superseded by the ravages this Fear-Based, Disease-Centered Policy have caused –– i.e. dire poverty, famikes cast into the street bcause they can't earn anough to pay rent or mortgages, mass starvation, eat from malnutrition, and outright starvation, bankruptcies galore, milliions of small business destroyed, inability to get basic supplies even for those who have remained solvent, real estate sales will virtually cease, no more restaurants, theaters, concert halls, opera houses. All these will go bankrupt then cease to exist, no more church, no more club meetings, no more literary discussion groups at local libraaries, no more direct contact between teachers and students. Tourism will cease and all the buesinsses that depend on it will go bankrupt.
In short: VENEZUELA might look like PARADISE compared to whta's in store for us, if Dr. Fauci's orders are obeyed.
I'm fervently praying that Presient Trump, ho hs a much broader, mre comprehensive undrstanding of reality, will b able to override the dracian policies of the CDC, LET a few hundred thousand people DIE of the Plague, and GET ON wth the NATION'S BUSINESS lest we go the way of ancient Egypt, Babylon, Greece, Rome and the Weimar Republic.
That said I'd like to know what Fauci said on Monday that might uause my outlook to be more favorable.
Franco,
DeleteI will send you the video later. Right now, I am at the Hyundai dealership because of a recall on my car's braking system. A freebie, but a long, long wait.
BTW, the place is almost deserted. Eerie!
I see Dr. Fauci a bit differently. He KNOWS what horror a virus can wreak. His specialty, in fact. Economics is out if his realm of knowledge and interest.
DeleteAlso, he's tired.
Personal note: it has come to my attention that my beloved friend Patricia may well have been struck down by COVID-19. It is now documented that this stalking virus can cause sudden cardiac death, and that is what felled Patricia, even as she was in the ER.
ReplyDeleteThis Easter has been a period of sadness here in this house.
Easter was Patricia's favorite Holy Day of the Christian calendar.
Was that disgnosis cnfirmed by n autosy, or do you just SURMISE th Wuhan PLgue to ve bee he cause of ou friend's sudden, demise?
DeleteThe ENEMEDIA and the DemonRats appear to have a VESTED INTEREST in counting vitually ALL deaths now as caused by the Chinese Bat Virus. I suppose smashups in automobiles and our-an-ou MRDR may escape that designation, but most "dubious deaths" are now counted asCovid-19 Virus-Related –– to plump up the tendentious statistics, I suppose.
Forgive me for being so skeptical, but I have always had n uncanny ability to identify the smell of POOPAGANDA when it gets close to me
Franco,
DeleteI assure you that my medical radar is nearly infallible.
Florida wasn't testing at the time. But Patricia worked the polls on March 17 and went to the grocery store every 2-3 days.
AND
She did have a fever. That is NOT consistent with am out of the vlue cardiac arrest, WITH NO UNDERLYING HEART DISEASE.
Her death was recorded as myocardial infarction as far as I know. There may have been a delay with the cremation; I say that because the publication of the obituary was quite a while after her death. I don't know her children well enough to inquire. Maybe later -- if her son stops by here on his trip from Connecticut to Florida.
In fact, I had given up on seeing any obituary until time for the memorial service. The memorial service has, of course, been indefinitely delayed.
And, yes, the Dems may be inflating the COVID-19 death stats.
DeleteOn the other hand, the more we learn about this damn virus, the more we discover that it attacks in different ways: respiratory (most often), neurological (strokes, meningitis), ophthalmological (conjunctivitis, iritis, retinitis), and cardiac.
In fact, this virus was first documented by an ophthalmologist!
A nasty bug hatched in a biolab in Wuhan? I think so. Of course, that is only my OPINION. But my medical radar as almost infallible.
NYC Adds 3,800 Probable Virus Victims to Death Toll
ReplyDeleteBloomberg News
by Henry Goldman
New York City added thousands of people to its coronavirus death toll to account for victims who died in recent weeks without a confirmed diagnosis.
The additional deaths -- totaling 3,778 -- pushed the city’s total to more than 10,000.
Almost 60% of the unconfirmed coronavirus patients died inside hospitals, the city reported.
Freddi Goldstein, press secretary to Mayor Bill de Blasio, said Tuesday that the data include at-home deaths of people suspected of having Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
That judgment is based on reported symptoms including cough, fever and shortness of breath. . . .
Franco,
ReplyDeleteHERE is what Dr. Fauci said at the Monday coronavirus briefing.
Thank you! I hope to be able to find time see it soon, albeit belatedly.
DeleteFIALLY saw it. Clear PROOF that President Trump has been COOPERATING with his 'expert' medicl advisors all along, and that any words to the contrary has been nothing but LEFTIST P_O_O_P_A_G_A_N_D_A.
DeleteUplifting news:
ReplyDeleteNotre-Dame's great bell to toll once again on anniversary of fire!
Excerpt:
PARIS (Reuters) - A year on from the inferno that gutted Notre-Dame de Paris and stunned the world, the cathedral’s great bell will ring out on Wednesday evening, as a mark of the building’s resilience and that of the medics battling France’s coronavirus epidemic.
The bourdon bell has sounded just once since April 15, 2019, when the blaze broke out that consumed the spire and the roof and, officials say, came within half an hour of burning the 850-year-old cathedral to the ground.
It will toll at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT), coinciding with the hour when Parisians applaud from their windows and balconies in tribute to the frontline staff risking their lives to treat COVID-19 patients....
Read the rest at the above link.
WONDERFUL NEWS!
ReplyDeleteAbbott Labs announces immunity test for COVID-19:
An Illinois company that’s played an outsized role in coronavirus testing said Wednesday it’s added an immunity test to its portfolio and will ship nearly 1 million tests to U.S. customers before the end of the week.
Abbott Laboratories said it will ship about 4 million tests in April and be able to produce about 20 million per month as of June.
The antibody, or “serological,” tests will be a critical tool for the nation as it tries to emerge from the depths of the COVID-19 crisis and get life back to normal.
The tests will determine whether someone had the disease — some people might not know if they did — and developed antibodies that protect them from future infections.
“It will provide more understanding of the virus, including how long antibodies stay in the body and if they provide immunity,” Abbott Laboratories said in a news release. “This type of knowledge could help support the development of treatments and vaccines.”
[...]
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, White House policymakers and others have pointed to the serological tests as the best way to figure out who has a level of protection to the disease and can return to work to get the economy revving.
The testing will be especially useful for health care workers on the front lines of the fight or essential workers who must be out in society instead of hunkered at home....
One comment to the above article:
This is why capitalism is the way to go in an imperfect world. The socialists would still be playing identity politics and the blame game, i.e. doing nothing useful. They are Nero, fiddling while Rome burns. Get the picture Pelosi?
Thanks, AOW for ALL your fine contribution to this thread. Much appreciated.
DeleteDid You see Obama endorsing Creepy Joe? He looked like he aged 20 years during the past 3 and a half years! Oh Well, I guess that what being married to Mooshell will do to you.
ReplyDeleteMaybe giving Uncle Joe a Nobel Peace Prize would help him?
ReplyDeleteExcellent articles Franco, with excellent messages that hit home.The only problem is that the Progressives, and the Socialist Democrats aren't interested in the truth.
ReplyDeleteYes, DD. Unfortunately that DOES seem to BE the Truth.
DeleteOf course, THEY say the same about US, and will not budge.
Do you thin they KNOW they are LYING, or are they just incapable of RECOGNIZING the truth when they see it?
I know any number of Democrats –– some of tem lifelong friends –– who really ARE very decent, well-meaning people.
They don't hate me, and I couldn't hate them if I tried, but our opposing BELIEFS do get in the way of HONEST conversation especailly about politics.
And I'm supposed to believe that the American Economy must be shut down to save the world.
ReplyDeleteOr that Trump is to blame for the Wuhan Virus.
Or even that Donald Trump is really a Russian Agent?
Please Excuse Me If These Idiotic Progressive/Socialist Democrat's Claims Seem Ridiculous, and Hilarious..
I sent this comment to "Miss Shaw", lets see if she publishes it, or if it means anything to her.. I seriously doubt it.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I feel that it is NEVER appropriate for a blog author to DELETE, or CHANGE the contents, or meaning of any and all comments I, also personally find it to be nasty, rude, belligerent, contemptuous, unduly provocative, and stupid for anyone to write stupid and insulting comments, but never the less should they be .DELETED , or CHANGED as you do on your blog,
Lets not ever forget that we live in a FREE country,with FREEDOM of the Press and lets keep it that way
We think very differently on the subject of censorship, Tom. "Freedom of Expression" means that authors of PRIVATELY OWNED publications have the right to SELECT, DISCRIMINATE and SHAPE the content of their publications as THEY see fit.
DeleteWE do our best to encourage POSITIVE views while winnowing out as much insolence , negativity and "trash talk"as possible.
When the complete freedom you seem to advocate is permitted, you get somethubg like LISA'S LITTERBOX, officially known as Who's Your Daddy?
I love Lisa, herself. She's a good, very nice, well-meaning, right-thinking individual, BUT her permissive approach to blogging resulted long ago in having malicious, moronic, viciously aggressive LEFTIST TROLLS take over and DOMINATE the scene to the pont where legitimate discourse and honest, fruitful conversation is IMPOSSBLE.
Long ago I took it upon myself to do what i could to help NEUTRALIZE the POISON injected daily by the Left, and certain foolish, mentally deficient, humorless participants who like to think they're conservatives, but the unchecked MALIGNANT NEGATIVITY isa SO powerful in that accursed spot is SO powerful that the bastards have succeeded in casting ME as the Bad Guy while THEY hav turned the pace into an electronic version of a FILTHY, DISEASE-RIDDEN, ... U_N_T_E_N_D_E_D ... PUBLIC ... T_O_I_L_E_T.
I don't care what ANYINE thins of me, but I'll shut up shop and CLOSE the BLOG before I'll EVER let anything like that happen here.
MY MOTTO?
"It's better to be ALONE than in BAD company."
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/04/obamas-brother-endorses-donald-j-trump-president-day-obama-endorses-sleepy-joe/
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteIt’s really remarkable how an American could have so much hateful in her abo her period Country!
ReplyDeleteAnd qwhat American would that be? I imagine it must be Nancy Pelousy, but I'd lke you to be moe specific if you're ging to post here, Lilly.
DeleteAlexandria Ocasio-Cortez said on Tuesday night that she believes the Democratic Party has an obligation to examine a sexual assault allegation made against presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden by Tara Reade, his former aide when he served as Delaware's senator
ReplyDeleteAOC (Asinine Odious Cunt) is the moral equivalent of a CANCER on the Body Politic.
DeleteIf her disgusting, degenerate, hyper-aggressive malignant presence is NOT removed in the next election, the END of the USA, –– as we've known, loved and prospered in it –– will soon become EXTINCT.
Freedom of Speech for MARXISTS can NOT be allowed to CONTINUE..
COMMUNISM alg with any POSITIVE discussion advocating it should have been OUTLAWED and ruthlessly STAMPED OUT many decades ago.
Put very simply and directly in basic English:
MARXISM is a TURD in our Natonal PUNCHBOWL –– a heavy dose of CYANIDE in the nation's WATER SUPPLY –– a BLACK WIDOW SPIDER or POISONOUS SNAKE in your BABY'S CRIB.
If you don't believe in doing EVERYTHNG POSSIBLE to FORBID and ... D_E_S_T_R_O_Y ... that DEADLY INFLUENCE, you have either been BRAINWASHED by Cultural Marxist Propaganda, or you re simply an absolute FOOL.
Adelaide Zigeuner Schwartz said:
DeleteWOW! You are one courgeous motherfucker, Franco! Good for yo for telling it just like it is.
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Delete
ReplyDeletePresident Trump is on a roll, bitchslapping Evil Lying Liberals like the Idiots who ask those “Gotchcha” questions, and China, and the Commies at the World Health Organization, who if they had any sense would repent and start loving our country and Democracy again.
He was treated like a King at DAVOS! They Welcomed him like a Hero! Congratulated him on his Tax Bill and promised to invest in America and bring more jobs with them. His approval ratings continue to climb despite the 24-7 assault by The Leftist Propagandist America Hating Media!
And the American Progressives/Socialists.
Meanwhile we have Satan worshiping Liberals plotting Coups in The FBI and John Kerry violating The Logan Act by urging HAMAS & The PLO to Fight The President & The United States!
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ReplyDeleteDr. Phil: Lockdown Could Eventually Create More ‘Destruction,’ ‘Death’ Than Coronavirus
ReplyDeleteDaily Wire
by Staff
Dr. Phil McGraw joined Fox News host Laura Ingraham on Thursday during a web exclusive broadcast to discuss the larger impact of the economic shutdown from the coronavirus.“This is invisible, I can’t show you an x-ray of depression, I can’t show you an x-ray of anxiety, but the fact of the matter is the longer this lock down goes on, the more vulnerable people get, and it’s like there’s a tipping point,” McGraw said. “There’s a point at which people start having enough problems in lock down that it will actually create . . .
DHS Grants Environmental Waiver to Speed Texas Border Wall Construction
ReplyDeleteBreitbart Border
by Bob Price
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) granted an expedited environmental waiver to move the construction of 15-miles of new border wall system segments forward in South Texas. The project consists of five non-contiguous segments in areas where no physical barrier currently exist. DHS officials issued an expedited environmental waiver on April 15 to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials to move forward the construction of new border wall systems along the Rio Grande in South Texas, according to information obtained from CBP. The waivers apply to construction projects awarded in March 2020 Breitbart Texas reported when CBP officials awarded a series of construction contracts on March 15
Reply !
That loud popping sound you hear is the sound of leftist heads exploding across the land!!
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ReplyDelete
DeleteProgressives, liberals, or any-other shape or form of Socialist should NOT be allowed to purchase, or use even a single dose of any medication he, she, or it has previously denounced. No matter how near death that they may be!
Oh GOSH, DD! Thats BIT too extreme –– even for me.
Delete];^}>
Sometimes you need to go to extremes... LOL
DeleteDOWZUP SEVEN-HUNDRED-FIVE today, Friday, 4/17/2020
ReplyDelete24,242.49 +704.81 (2.99%)
This marks two straight weeks of solid gains.
Long may the trend continue! (It won't of course, were certainly for more setbacks before we'll be bl to make a complete recovery. That's just the nature of the beast.)
BUT if the current state of my portfolio is any indication, we are DECIDEDLY back on the Upward Path. HALL:ELUJAH
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteShockingly CNN is not broadcasting the President's Coronavirus press conference. But I’m sure for the next three or four hours, or more they’ll have an opinion on what was said
ReplyDeleteI have a new challenge for you Trump haters.
ReplyDeletePost a picture of you tearing up your stimulus check
I have consistently had the position that this virus originated in a Wuhan lab. I have also been repeatedly insulted by the leftist Progressive blog author for peddling a conspiracy theory
ReplyDeleteWell now even the Fake News stationing iCNN is waking up to the increasing likelyhood that this came out of a lab and not from a wet market which incidentally doesn't even sell the bat because it's not native to the area. In fact the closest location of these bats in question is roughly 600 miles away.
So I say to that Progressive Nut Job... how do you like those apples!
Do you believe the First Amendment should apply to "Fake News" –– i.e. LYING in PUBLIC to toot a negative poitical agenda?
DeleteThat's serious question and one that ought to generate much fruitful discussion –– st least among those CAPABLE... of ... T_H_I_N_K_I_N_G. (Sadly they appear to be a DYING BREED –– a tragedy for the future of our nation.)