Fast (yet again)

On that day they will fast (2:20) (1/1/2021)

As I write, the news is grim. Numbers of COVID cases are rising rapidly, especially across the South East, so that in about a month's time we will be hearing of six to seven hundred deaths per day. The cause of such a spike remain confusing as talk of a new variant is frightening but less than completely persuasive as one major study does not support the assumption that it is to blame. Somehow people are coming into contact with one another close enough to catch a virus, and in large numbers, in spite of all the restrictions. We watch crowded aisles in supermarkets, meet parents who rush to university to pick up their sick children, hear of beauty salons and pubs as the centre of outbreaks, note multi-generational child-care of school-age children and wonder if it is all our fault that the virus being transmitted. 

While we cannot avoid normal human contact entirely without ceasing to be human, we could reduce it by being really careful. Sadly many are not convinced that the current rules work. They are not without reason: the rules can criminalise normal human behaviour and are at times confusing. It has not helped that some people have become inured to breaking them. However, careful sensible loving behaviour can reduce all our risks, and the rules help us to find this path. Today is a good day to avoid many of the normal comforts of life, so as to bless those who cannot stay safe otherwise. Today is a good day to fast.



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