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the democrat plague

friday, december 24th, 2021

So now it’s the “Omicron variant,” which, like the “Delta variant,” is said to constitute an “emergency” because it is “potentially more contagious.”

There are zero active “cases” of Omicron in the United States, but rest assured “it’s coming,” says the loopy Governor of New York by operation of law, Kathy Hochul, who is doubtless delighted at the prospect of a new pretext for imposing her insane “vaccine mandate” on healthcare workers in the state, which has decimated the state’s health care workforce. Hochul has publicly declared that COVID vaccines are divinely inspired and that those who refuse them “are not listening to God and what God wants.” Had Trump said anything of the sort about his “Operation Warp Speed,” the entire mediatic complex would have denounced him unceasingly for violating the separation of Church and State. But since the words came from the mouth of a Democrat governor, the Ministry of Truth had no pronouncement on the matter.

Hochul has declared a new “state of disaster emergency” in New York based solely on Omicron – an “emergency” involving the potential arrival of a potentially more contagious viral variant that may potentially require a new vaccine to deal with potential “vaccine resistance.” But what actual health threat does Omicron pose? None. Are you surprised? Dr Angelique Coetzee, the very doctor who supposedly discovered Omicron at its supposed point of origin in South Africa, advises that “It presents mild disease with symptoms being sore muscles and tiredness for a day or two not feeling well. So far, we have detected that those infected do not suffer the loss of taste or smell. They might have a slight cough. There are no prominent symptoms. Of those infected some are currently being treated at home.” The mostly male patients were, she says, just “so tired.” And about half of those infected are “fully vaccinated”—an inconvenient fact the linked article obscures by stating that half are unvaccinated. Meanwhile, in country after country, the COVID vaccines are manifestly failing to prevent transmission or infection – hence the emergence of the Omicron Malaise – and in many places the majority of the hospitalized are now “fully vaccinated.” Meanwhile, in country after country, the COVID vaccines are manifestly failing to prevent transmission or infection – hence the emergence of the Omicron Malaise —- and in many places the majority of the hospitalized are now “fully vaccinated.”

No prominent symptoms. Just really like, tired, you know? Based on the potential for Omicron malaise, the politicians and their health bureaucrats have already launched another round of oppressive measures to keep their COVID regimes going. Before the virus has caused even a sniffle in Europe, new travel bans and various degrees of lockdown have returned, while Biden has banned entry into the United States from nine different countries.

Of course, Lord Fauci immediately weighed in on this latest pretext for tyrannical overreach. When asked by one of his favorite fake news outlets, NBC, whether a “vaccine mandate” for domestic travel, lockdowns and all the rest are in the offing, the diminutive despot replied that “everything is on the table.” To recent calls that he resign on account of his brazen mendacity before Congress and his monumental incompetence -— essentially everything he says about COVID has been proven wrong—Fauci replied: “They’re really criticizing science, because I represent science.” Trump’s biggest blunder was failing to sack this insufferable buffoon when he had the chance. Barring a new political miracle along the lines of Trump’s reelection to the Presidency, Americans can expect a new round of Faucist oppression with every new “wave” of COVID-19, including even milder variants whose effects might range from “a feeling that something just isn’t right” to uncontrollable flatulence.

Rather than admit the failure of the vaccines, however, the CDC has simply “adjusted” the definition of “vaccination” to eliminate the very concept of immunity, which is like changing the definition of “surgery” to eliminate the concept of incision. Rather than admit the failure of the vaccines, however, the CDC has simply “adjusted” the definition of “vaccination” to eliminate the very concept of immunity, which is like changing the definition of “surgery” to eliminate the concept of incision.

Meanwhile, in country after country, the COVID vaccines are manifestly failing to prevent transmission or infection—hence the emergence of the Omicron Malaise – and in many places the majority of the hospitalized are now “fully vaccinated.” Rather than admit the failure of the vaccines, however, the CDC has simply “adjusted” the definition of “vaccination” to eliminate the very concept of immunity, which is like changing the definition of “surgery” to eliminate the concept of incision. Where vaccination was previously defined in accordance with its actual meaning as “the act of introducing a vaccine into the body to produce immunity to a specific disease,” the words “immunity to” have been replaced by “protection from”. The meaning of “vaccine” has likewise been adjusted to hide COVID vaccine failure. No longer does “vaccine” mean “a product that stimulates a person’s immune system to produce immunity to a specific disease.” Now, says the CDC, vaccines merely “stimulate the body’s immune response against diseases.” In other words, the COVID vaccines are not really vaccines. At most, they are experimental medications for a transient alleviation of symptoms. If that.

As it becomes impossible to hide that the COVID faux-vaccines are not doing what vaccines are supposed to do, the CDC is preparing to change another definition. The term “fully vaccinated” will soon expand to require “booster shots”: three shots of what was Moderna’s or Pfizer’s two-shot vaccine or two shots of J&J’s one-shot product. The CDC thus closely trails the “health experts” of Israel, where a fourth shot is being floated for a population that is already 93% vaccinated. No one is allowed to notice that vaccination itself seems to be driving the need for more vaccinations by creating selective pressure on the virus that breeds new variants, including Omicron.

Exposing the massive, historically unprecedented fraud he himself is perpetrating, the doddering, senile pseudo-President declares: “We’re going to protect vaccinated workers from unvaccinated co-workers.” Lest this remark be attributed to Biden’s ever-worsening mental confusion, the cackling boob who occupies the Vice Presidency said the same thing: “By vaccinating the unvaccinated… and protecting the vaccinated, we can end this pandemic.”

As the CDC would have it, every man, woman, and child over the age of two should behave as if no one had ever been vaccinated. As the CDC would have it, every man, woman, and child over the age of two should behave as if no one had ever been vaccinated.

Reaching the apex of absurdity, the CDC informs us that the unvaccinated must be protected from the vaccinated, because “vaccinated people infected with Delta can transmit the virus.” All the more so with the threat of the Omicron Malaise! Thus, says the CDC, even the “fully vaccinated” should wear masks indoors to “ensure the vaccinated public would not unknowingly transmit virus to others, including their unvaccinated or immunocompromised loved ones.” As the CDC would have it, every man, woman, and child over the age of two should behave as if no one had ever been vaccinated.

But, a CDC spokesman assures us, “It’s also important to note that the modifications to the definition of ‘vaccine’” – meaning admissions that the COVID vaccines aren’t working – “don’t change the fact that vaccines and the act of vaccination has prevented millions of illnesses and saved countless lives”. More nonsense. There is no scientifically established unvaccinated control group in the general population by which this claim could verified, whereas the claim that millions of illnesses did not happen because of vaccination is nothing but the fallacy post hoc ergo propter hoc.

Indeed, the evidence mounts daily that vaccination has not only done nothing to “limit the spread” of COVID-19 but has actually facilitated it. Indeed, the evidence mounts daily that vaccination has not only done nothing to “limit the spread” of COVID-19 but has actually facilitated it.

On the other hand, even the lying “fact-checker” for Reuters admits that Alex Berenson accurately reported on statistics from the UK, typical of those emerging around the world, which show that “of 1,521 over-80s who died from COVID-19 during this time, 1,272 were fully vaccinated, forty-three had received one vaccine dose, while 198 were unvaccinated. Meanwhile, 607 out of 801 70 to 79-year-olds who died from COVID-19 had received two vaccine doses (164 hadn’t been vaccinated) and of 411 60 to 69-year-olds, 258 were fully vaccinated (125 were unvaccinated).” The best Reuters could do to “fact check” the truth it seeks to hide was to render the verdict “Missing context.” But the “context” consists of Reuters’ skewed interpretation of statistics showing that the COVID death rate per 100,000 among the vaccinated is lower than that for the unvaccinated. But did they die from or with COVID? We will never know. And that’s just the way they want it.

In reply to the “fact-checkers,” Berenson notes that they fail to account for the reality that the vaccinated as a group exhibit a selection bias because they are healthier to begin with and “care more about avoiding sickness, and they have the time and energy and money to find their way to a vaccination site. They are not healthier because they get vaccines; they get vaccines because they are healthier.” Berenson cites a major UK study which shows that, for precisely this reason, flu vaccination has had no effect on the overall death rate among the health-conscious 65 and older cohort. As the study concludes: “Current vaccination strategies prioritizing elderly persons may be less effective than believed at reducing serious morbidity and mortality in this population…”

Even children are to be subjected to state-ordered injection, for which there is no medical justification whatsoever. Even children are to be subjected to state-ordered injection, for which there is no medical justification whatsoever.

While, as Berenson writes, the “fact-checkers” are “lying with truthful data,” the same data show undeniably that “Something is wrong. The promises that the health authorities have made over the last 12 months about the vaccines are not coming true. Despite near-complete levels of adult vaccination in Europe, many countries are seeing skyrocketing Covid cases and deaths. And worst of all, all-cause non-Covid mortality is running well above normal in country after country.” In other words, it is entirely possible that COVID vaccines are hastening death as a baseline proposition, even apart from the dramatic instances of serious and even deadly side effects that have managed to reach the public despite a criminal information blockade by the legacy media.

Indeed, the evidence mounts daily that vaccination has not only done nothing to “limit the spread” of COVID-19 but has actually facilitated it. To cite just one example from a growing mountain of studies, an Israeli study of a COVID-19 outbreak in a hospital shows that all 42 infected persons were “fully vaccinated”; that the outbreak originated with a vaccinated patient; that several transmissions occurred between people wearing masks; and that 14 of 23 fully vaccinated patients “became severely sick or died,” thus “raising a question about possible waning immunity” – a risibly understated, politically compromised conclusion.

What the lying media have managed to hide over the past twenty months is that the “pandemic” and its related restrictions on fundamental liberties are found only in those political, social, and economic spaces controlled by the Democrat Party. What the lying media have managed to hide over the past twenty months is that the “pandemic” and its related restrictions on fundamental liberties are found only in those political, social, and economic spaces controlled by the Democrat Party.

Yet, under pain of exclusion from social life and professional and personal ruin from the forfeiture of educational opportunity or employment, everyone must be coerced into being injected with abortion-connected substances that confer no immunity, do not prevent infection or transmission, and have assorted serious and even life-threatening side effects. Even children are to be subjected to state-ordered injection, for which there is no medical justification whatsoever. One can now even buy a t-shirt that sums up this epochal travesty: “Why do the protected need to be protected from the unprotected, by forcing the unprotected to use the protection that didn’t protect the protected in the first place?” Or, as someone else has put it, the COVID vaccines are the only medications that have failed because of those who refused to take them. If there has ever been a greater public policy debacle in the history of Western democracy, I would like to know what it is.

More than twenty months after it began, the contours of the endless COVID-19 “pandemic” stand in bold relief for anyone who still retains the use of reason. By administrative and executive fiat, the perpetrators of nothing less than an ongoing crime against humanity have created an endlessly self-reinforcing loop of oppression from which it seems there is no escape.

Only the willfully blind can fail to see at this point in the COVID-19 debacle that the mask and the jab are merely signs of allegiance to the Democrat imperium. Only the willfully blind can fail to see at this point in the COVID-19 debacle that the mask and the jab are merely signs of allegiance to the Democrat imperium.

But there is an escape, and the open escape hatch is staring us in the face. One can step through it into anyplace in the country not controlled by Democrats. In Republican-controlled places, people have basically moved on from the “pandemic,” given the limited degree of control the Biden regime can exercise over states and localities in what remains of the federalist system. Biden’s ridiculous OSHA mandate for the vaccination of all employees of businesses that employ 100 or more people promptly crashed and burned in the Fifth Circuit, and about the only measure he can impose on the nation, albeit unconstitutionally, is mask-wearing in airports. In short, what the lying media have managed to hide over the past twenty months is that the “pandemic” and its related restrictions on fundamental liberties are found only in those political, social, and economic spaces controlled by the Democrat Party. Only where Democrats (or their equivalents in other countries) exercise power over a given space will you find a COVID dictatorship and the ever-moving goalpost of liberation.

Indeed, the direct correlation between Democrat control and COVID-related tyranny is so precise that even in red states that have refused to impose or have lifted COVID-19 restrictions, Democrat-controlled political subdivisions, school districts, business entities and social venues continue to impose them with Jacobin-like fury, often in defiance of state law. Florida is the shining example of a state that refused to adopt any of the Democrat-devised COVID restraints on freedom, which could not have been better calculated to prolong the “pandemic.” Consequently, Florida as a whole has had the best possible outcome in dealing with the virus—a fact that infuriates the Democrats and their media mouthpieces, whose every prediction of a viral apocalypse in Florida was proven wrong. Yet, despite his success, Governor de Santis has had to contend with pockets of Democrat resistance from mayors, county commissioners, school boards and woke corporations maniacally intent on keeping people in masks and forcing vaccines into their arms.

Only the willfully blind can fail to see at this point in the COVID-19 debacle that the mask and the jab are merely signs of allegiance to the Democrat imperium. The members of the imperium and their celebrity and media collaborators attend galas in maskless freedom while the hired help must wear the facial shrouds of obedience and submission. Biden, Harris and their staffs parade around in ceremonial black masks before the cameras despite being “fully vaccinated.” And on the Democrat-controlled House side of the Capitol Building masks are required under penalty of stiff fines, while on the Senate side, where Democrats are not in the majority, useless “face coverings” are only “strongly encouraged.” Senator Ron Johnson aptly remarked this absurdity masquerading as “science”:

There is no science, but I guess the speaker [Pelosi] must have not known that. First, they tell us don’t wear a mask, wear a mask, wear two masks, then they take the mask off. They said if Americans got vaccinated, we’d get our lives back, and we did [get vaccinated]. I don’t know, the gentleman over there’s going to run for the Senate. Maybe he wants to do that so he doesn’t have to wear a mask. The science over there is better.

In the manner of all imperia, the COVID imperium has attained an overtly religious character. As already noted, Governor Hochul has explicitly elevated vaccine fanaticism to the level of a jihad against the infidels who reject the divinely inspired vaccine from God. To quote the lunatic more fully:

We are not through this pandemic. I wished we were but I prayed a lot to God during this time and you know what – God did answer our prayers. He made the smartest men and women, the scientists, the doctors, the researchers – He made them come up with a vaccine. That is from God to us and we must say, thank you, God. Thank you. And I wear my “vaccinated” necklace all the time to say I’m vaccinated. All of you, yes, I know you're vaccinated, you’re the smart ones, but you know there’s people out there who aren’t listening to God and what God wants. You know who they are.

It is not COVID-19, or its variants, that plagues this country, but the Democrats. It is not COVID-19 that plagues this country, but the Democrats.

You know who they are. A chilling incitement to persecution of those who remain outside the Mystical Body of Moderna. And yet, inexplicably, Roberto de Mattei inveighs against what he imagines to be “the no-vax religion,” having blinded himself to the fanaticism of the Cult of the Divine Vaccine led by the same Pope he never ceases to condemn for other reasons – a cult that now seeks to inoculate even little children with a veritable chrism of initiation that does them no earthly good.

In sum, it is not COVID-19 that plagues this country, but the Democrats. The only way to end the “pandemic” once and for all is to vote them out of office. And the only way to escape it until then is to find a place where Democrats are not in charge of public policy and people are consequently able to live their lives. Meanwhile, the federal judiciary remains our best hope for containing the Democrat contagion until a definitive political cure can be effected. That legal effort has taken me away from these pages for too long, but I hope to appear here more often in the near future, if the Editor will have me.

May God bless Remnant readers, one and all, in this Holy Season of Advent.

© 11.29.2021 by Christopher A. Ferrara, "The Remnant". [H/T Pastor Tom]

A Day In The Life.

It's Friday... how did that happen?

Up at 8a, I went thru my finger stick to check my BSL (Blood Sugar Level) and recorded it on my Diabetes 2 chart, made Hawaiian Kona 'Volcanic Estate' Coffee and had a light, buttery croissant for breakfast, had a couple smokes in the semi-cool garage and checked the leftover errands list. It was an amazing 52°, already. That won't last long. I checked the weather and news on my computer, as usual in the early morning. After breakfast, I listened to the "Chris Plante Show" on WMAL-105.9FM in DC, I checked email and phone voicemails.

You seem to have mistaken me for someone who actually gives a shit.

Sherry called after lunch, was finished with her app't at Wellspan Cardiology, and we'd meet at the nearby York Galleria, to do some walking and get a little exercise. We met at 1p, and did just over ¾ of a mile, then went back to my condo, to get warm and relax. Sherry left around 4:30p as it was getting dusk, I did some condo chores and made Shrimp Garlic Angel Hair Pasta for dinner. Satiated, I watched Discovery's "Gold Rush" until 10p, and switched to Fox for "Laura" and "Gutfeld". Lights out at midnight.

81 million votes for Biden... and NOT ONE "Build Back Better" "Build Back Broke" hat, anywhere to be seen. Not one.

Awake at 8:30a on a rainy Saturday, I went thru the usual morning routines, breakfast and decided to stay in for the day, and put-off the few errands I had, until Monday. I started watching Motor Trend's "Mecum Auto Auctions – Monterey", where the mega-money cars and bids come from, and was so transfixed, I had to put my "drool bib" on to keep from messing-up my new Pendleton Shirt. Heh. I skipped lunch and did some paperwork while watching the auction show, from various cities. I can't believe I watched it all evening, until 10:30, and then closed down. Some very, very amazing and desirable vehicles.

America is the only country where you can be born penniless, and die a multi-millionaire.

Up at 9:45a on Sunday, to a 37°, cloudy morning... well, at lease there's no snow, yet, as there is just to the north of us. I had 2 loads of laundry to do, after breakfast, a shave and shower, and some Christmas Cards to finish making on my computer's MS-Publisher. That done, I was relaxing when Becky stopped by, after getting her hair done in nearby Lancaster, and picking-up a load of food for me and herself, at Wegman's. We had a small pizza together, talked over Family matters and she left before dusk. I had enough with the pizza, skipped dinner and watched Discovery's "Homestead Rescue", FNC's "Life, Liberty & Levin", "The Revolution" until 10p, and called it a day.

Awake at 7:45a on Monday – Christmas Week – to a bitter cold 21° but sunny morning, I fired-up the furnace, started the Kona Coffee, had a couple of smokes while the condo and garage warmed-up. I had a flaky, buttery croissant with butter and orange marmalade, and listened to the first hour of the "Chris Plante Show", before setting out to get last week's leftover errands done. I left at 10:15, but the cleaners were not open until 11a, so I drove to Lee's to help him with a Win-10 computer hacking problem, drop-off a 1-lb bag of Kona Coffee for his wife, Annette, who'd made some sweet potato soup for me and had it ready-to-go. After leaving their home, I hit the convenience store for a carton of Marlboros, the cleaners, and then stopped at the pharmacy, who didn't any of the 3 Rxs ready, and won't until Tuesday or Wednesday. Damn. It's taking longer and longer and longer to get an Rx filled, due to China being the manufacturer and supplier to 93% of America's pharmaceuticals.

The DJIA and other markets took a mild dump – 433+ pts – today, as Joe Manchin (D-WVa) told Bidet&Co to shove their TRILLION dollar inflation budget, up their dark and remote locations. Don't think they won't try to find another way to get that financial horror show passed, after the New Year. They will.

I skipped lunch, did paperwork and checked some online utilities to make sure all bills were paid. After dinner, I watched History's "Ancient Aliens" until Fox News' "Tucker", and then switched back to History, until "Gutfeld, at 11p. Lights out at midnight.

Up at 8:15a on Tuesday to a cloudy 24°, I fired-up the furnace from 70° to 78°, did the finger stick, had a couple of smokes in the cold garage, fired-up the computer as I do every morning in prep for the "Chris Plante Show" on WMAL-105.9FM in DC, and had cereal/fruit for breakfast. Today's the First Day of Winter, or technically, the Winter Solstice (shortest day and longest night of the year). I started charging my new APC Battery Back-Up in my office-sunroom, as specificed for 24hrs, before I remove the old APC Unit (from my Ol' Garden Center Office), and reset all the myriad of wires. I was still doing laundry, which I hate doing.

I had a banana for lunch, worked on condo chores all afternoon, had Blackened Salmon w/ Rice, Green Beans & Sliced Peaches for dinner, and watched History's "The Curse of Oak Island" until 10p. Then I switched to Fox News for "Laura" and "Gutfeld", and closed down at midnight.

I slept-in until 9a on Wednesday, and woke to a cloudy, 31° morning. After a finger stick, I fired-up the furnace, made Kona Coffee had a croissant for breakfast and settled-in to list to the "Chris Plante Show". I left for a few errands around 10a, before Holiday Traffic Hell started, at the nearby York Galleria, where everyone wants to turn left at one intersection, and refuse to go up to the next 2 intersections, which also would take them into the goliath shopping mall. This backs-up traffic for 2-3 miles, and the local police don't give a rat's ass about it. I've been enduring this snarled traffic crap for 32yrs, since I moved here in 1989, and always find shortcuts and backroads to take to avoid it.

From the formation of the Federal Reserve Bank & Big Pharma, to the Great Reset, America stands at the crossroads. Watch this.

Back home by 11:30a, and out of the Holiday traffic, I unpacked and caught the remainder of the "CP Show", and had some Garlic Shrimp etc Rotini Pasta Salad for lunch. My new APC Battery Back-Up was still charging on a wall outlet (as specified for 24hrs), so I opted to get some condo chores done, watch Discovery's "What On Earth?" and NBCsN's "Mecum Auto Auctions". Slim pickings for Wednesday, IMO. I had PA Dutch Chicken Pot Pie, Mashed Potatoes w/ Butter and Homemade Cornbread for dinner. Mmmmmmmmm... I'm addicted to cornbread w/ butter.

Here's why I never eat chicken products, not only at KFC, but at Popeyes etc, and haven't for the past 15 years.

I did paperwork, unplugged the now-charged APC Back-Up Battery, and will install it tomorrow. Not much on TV except Fox News shows with subs, so I watched until 11:30p, and called it quits. My cleaning lady's in at 8:30a tomorrow, so I'm getting-up early.

Have you seen Chevy's Merry Christmas TV ad?

Up at 6a on Thursday, it was a bitter cold 23° and clear, at 0-Dark-Thirty, so I fired-up the furnace, office-sunroom and garage heaters. I did the finger stick, made coffee and had a croissant w/ poached egg. JoAnne arrived at 8:30 and worked until almost noon; I gave her a check, a nice JS-made Christmas Card and seasonal cash bonus.

I replugged my APC Back-Up Battery to give it an extra charge for 2-3hrs. Mentally, I'm going thru the shutdown/unplug/replug/power-up sequences for all the power cords and several surge protectors I currently have. Sherry stopped-by to visit around 1:30p, exchange kisses and hugs as presents, and we visited for a few hours. She left before traffic got real bad and dusk set-in, and I set about getting the garbage and recyclables out to the curb for morning p/u. Zero worth-a-crap on TV, so I spent time on my office-sunroom computer while the garahe heater did its thing, after I put the Jeep away for the night. At a cold 34° at 4p, I knew it was going to be another cold night.

I had sweet potato and corn soup for dinner, watched Discovery's "Homestead Rescue" until 10:30p, and closed down for the night. I was tired from getting up at 6a, and besides, tomorrow starts another week, here in the "Journal".

This Advent, Let Your Presence Be Your Present.

Advent is a time of expectation and preparation for the celebration of Christ's birth. While much Christmas hype is focused on the day itself and the gifts to be purchased and exchanged, Christmas is better thought of as a process, a time to be savored, day by day, week by week, rather than rushed through to the end. Even though we are at the end of Advent (It started on Nov. 28 and ends on Dec. 24.), there is still time to savor the few days left.

The joy of Christmas Day comes not simply from the opening of the gifts but from the time spent decorating, buying presents and wrapping them. It comes from the energy and effort expended to honor and celebrate the birth of Christ and to celebrate our loved ones, all of whom are made in the image of Christ and have the light of Christ within them. It's the acknowledgment of the miracle of the birth of Christ -- not only was he born to a virgin, his mother Mary, but he was the son of God, who so loves you and me that he sent his son to earth to be born, to live among us and to be crucified for our sins.

During this year's 26 days of Advent, the days have gotten darker earlier, the weather colder and the traffic worse as holiday parties, after-work shopping and get-togethers have swung into high gear. On top of that, we are dealing with the effects of almost two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the rapid acceleration of the omicron wave. The combination of the additional activities and the arrival of the latest variant of the virus can be overwhelming and debilitating. The news about all this is scary. My advice to my family, friends and readers is to turn off the news and focus on what is happening around you.

The pace of our lives can be dizzying and overwhelming if we do not carefully control our schedules. On any given day, there is always more to do than we can possibly fit in. It's tempting to cut back on sleep and exercise, and to rely on party appetizers or fast food to fill us up along the way.

While these temporary shortcuts might provide us with a few more minutes in the day, the items we are cutting back are the same items that have been proven to help us feel better: sleep, exercise and proper fuel for our bodies. To survive the holiday season, instead of pushing ourselves to the limit, we would be better off acknowledging that we can be at our best only when our best self is available. To be truly present for someone else, we first have to make sure that we ourselves are on solid ground, and that the light of Christ within us has space to shine and be seen by others.

You might wonder, how is this possible in a world where so many of us feel unsure, unstable or frightened? In this time of great fluidity and change, traditions, routines and rituals can provide us with comfort and the feeling of control. They allow us to remain centered and focused while the outside world is churning.

The routines we value the most tend to be the ones that involve spending time together. These routines allow us to breathe, relax and appreciate those we love -- to feel safe, to feel secure and to feel loved. During challenging times, often the best present we can give someone is our presence, our peace -- to just be with them.

To be able to give others this gift of our presence, we must first make sure that we have refilled our own well of energy. Meditation, time alone, exercise, good food, sleep and sunlight allow us to build our own reserves so that we can then, in turn, give our best presence to others.

For what remains of this Advent, remember that the season is not just about the event but about the expectation, the waiting, the preparation, the everyday events where you can see God's grace shine. Slow down and let your presence be your present this season, and throughout the year ahead.

© 12.23.2021 by Jackie Gingrich Cushman, "TownHall.com"