WILL 2020 EVER END?

by Dr. Randy Tompkins

The simple answer to the question is yes. When day 366 reaches midnight, 2020 will cease to be the current year. The real meaning behind the question is when will we get out of all the mess that has hit us during this calendar year? Truth is, we will still be seeing the results of the virus, the storms, the economy for many, many more months.

What concerns me more than the physical negatives that presented themselves this year, is the emotional and attitudinal changes that have happened this year. During previous major crises, Americans, while appalled at what had happened, didn’t just think about themselves, they thought about their town, their county, their state, their nation. When the swine flu and polio became an epidemic, people were alarmed, but their actions were to make things better. They didn’t put their own comfort, thoughts, desires above taking care of business – defeating the enemy, whether it was a sickness or a foreign government.

In today’s society, it appears the needs and wants of the individual seem more important than the needs of the town, state and/or country. When polio became widespread, I was part of the class of children that took the polio vaccine. I did it because my parents stuck me in a line of children and said, “Take the shot.” Several years later it was determined the polio vaccine shot had not been as effective as desired. There was a new vaccine, and I was in another line to take the sugar cube into which had been placed the new medicine. I was in the second line because my parents once again told me to do it. But by this time, we had experienced someone in our extended family that had contracted polio, and I saw the results of that infection.

The Apostle John wrote in the third chapter of his gospel, “For this is the message you have heard from the beginning: we should love one another. . .” If more citizens would adopt this message, America would be a stronger nation.

In Christ’s Service,