I thought that 2019 would be the year I considered pivotal in my life because that is the year I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I was wrong. It was a year of preparation for the year 2020. In 2019, I changed my diet, I changed my skin-care routine, I changed my attitudes toward people, I changed my perception of how God speaks to me, I changed my response to life.
In March of 2020, I was having a harrowing hour with some 7th grade students in an after-school program. At the end of that hour, I lost composure and shouted to one student, "I do not want you back in this room!" It was the last time any of us would be back. The 2020 lock downs began that following week.. The CoVid-19 plague was recognized in the United States. and Governor Whitmer instituted preventative measures for Michigan.
In 2020, we succumbed to isolationism, anarchy, fear. greed.
Today I read the article "Rocky Mountain Locust", written by Jeffrey Lockwood, in the Kansas School Naturalist, Emporia State University... In the paragraph "Understanding Natural Disasters", Lockwood sums up some conclusions: "This insect brought into sharp relief the conflicting ideals of agrarianism and industrialism.....hard work does not assure survival.....the locusts forced every level of government to come to terms with its obligations to the people in times of suffering and need.....Natural disasters could strike pious people of high moral character who had done nothing to deserve their misery."
That particular locust, once numbered in the trillions is now extinct. It took 27 years to disappear.. Lockwood states that there are 7 billion people on our planet but that being "abundant, polyphagous, and highly mobile species is no guarantee against extinction." He concludes by asking, "What have we really learned about ourselves and our place int he natural world?"
2020 is another pivotal year for this country. It has lasted long as a democracy founded under Christianity but many know that the end is near by how its standards have changed.. And extinction is a clear possibility.
In March of 2020, I was having a harrowing hour with some 7th grade students in an after-school program. At the end of that hour, I lost composure and shouted to one student, "I do not want you back in this room!" It was the last time any of us would be back. The 2020 lock downs began that following week.. The CoVid-19 plague was recognized in the United States. and Governor Whitmer instituted preventative measures for Michigan.
In 2020, we succumbed to isolationism, anarchy, fear. greed.
Today I read the article "Rocky Mountain Locust", written by Jeffrey Lockwood, in the Kansas School Naturalist, Emporia State University... In the paragraph "Understanding Natural Disasters", Lockwood sums up some conclusions: "This insect brought into sharp relief the conflicting ideals of agrarianism and industrialism.....hard work does not assure survival.....the locusts forced every level of government to come to terms with its obligations to the people in times of suffering and need.....Natural disasters could strike pious people of high moral character who had done nothing to deserve their misery."
That particular locust, once numbered in the trillions is now extinct. It took 27 years to disappear.. Lockwood states that there are 7 billion people on our planet but that being "abundant, polyphagous, and highly mobile species is no guarantee against extinction." He concludes by asking, "What have we really learned about ourselves and our place int he natural world?"
2020 is another pivotal year for this country. It has lasted long as a democracy founded under Christianity but many know that the end is near by how its standards have changed.. And extinction is a clear possibility.