I Caught the COVID
One of my coworkers at Truett Seminary said I needed a sign saying “I survived COVID-19.” I could post it in my office window, broadcasting to the world that COVID came for me, went toe-to-to with me in the octagon of the everyday, and lost.
I’m a survivor. And while I’m glad to have cleared this hurdle, my battle continues. I am still getting through this thing called life. And if you caught that reference, you know that it was Prince who observed, “Electric word, life, it means forever and that’s a mighty long time.”
Last week I caught the COVID. The vaccine likely ameliorated the effects. Praise be! I had a very mild case. I had a sinus headache for about a day, one that may have been compounded by allergies. I said my prayers, took my vitamins, and kept on training. I did my work. I attended church online. Molly offered a good sermon. I spent quality time with my kids. I liked being around the house. I built a couple of fires, walked the neighborhood, watched football.
Back in April ‘21, I received the vaccine as soon as I was eligible. I was on the verge of scheduling a booster shot with the semester was just over the horizon. I thought that’d be wise. We’ve had a spike in cases at the start of every term. College students, you know, are germy. But then, a family member turned up positive. I took a test on the Baylor campus. The result? COVID-19: “Detected.” My five day isolation period began. “Isolation” sounds gloomier than “quarantined.” In practice, I stayed home, which is a place I like to be, around people I like to be around. And the dogs, too, I guess.
I don’t know how soon after the pandemic began I got the notion I would catch this disease, but I felt it was coming. That day finally arrived. After clearing protocols and working from home for a few days, I’m back at the office, with what I hope is a well-earned and long-lasting boost of natural immunity. I’m gearing up for the spring term, getting ready to go about the business of spiritual formation, inviting everyone to follow me as a I follow Christ, and hoping, that with God’s help, together we’re given the gift of a wider, deeper, fuller faith.
You know, it’s important work we do around here at the seminary. It’s the work of “life.” Eternal life, the kind of life that lasts a very long time. Forever, actually. With God, its the best kind of life, the kind of life that need not fear any disease, or anything at all, because in Christ it is the kind of life that holds us in the unshakeable and everlasting grip of eternal, redeeming, restoring, reconciling, and sanctifying love.
Book Notes
I published my 2021 Year in Reading.
I finished Thomas Sowell’s Black Rednecks and White Liberals and Justin Whitmel Earley’s Habits of the Household: Practicing the Story of God in Everyday Family Rhythms.
Sights and Sounds
I watched Jerry Seinfeld’s Jerry Before Seinfeld comedy special, and I continue to cherry-pick episodes of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. I hated the episode with Howard Stern, and loved the conversation with Larry David. I also liked Jerry’s outings with Jim Gaffigan, Norm MacDonald, and Dave Chapelle.
I have watched the first two episodes of The Book of Boba Fett on Disney+ and so far, I’m unimpressed.
Last Words
On the blog: new word coinages can change the world, last year’s reading recap, and working on your convictions until you can share them the way you share them.
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Be well this week. Bless others.
Best,
BAS
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