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Three Things on Thursday

Three Things on Thursday

Last updated on: March 26, 2020 at 9:53 am by Anne Kennedy

Three Things on Thursday 2020-03-26T09:53:55-04:00 Anne Kennedy

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Must say, have completely adjusted to the slower pace of life. Don’t even really wake up anymore before 7. So that’s really terrible. This is probably my ideal existence (except for the whole world being on fire). I am really good at drifting from one thing to the next, no aim or ambition to sharpen my wits or focus my mind. It suits me. Also, a dear dear friend sent me some bubble-bath in the mail. Feeling practically Victorian, especially with the disease and poverty crouching at the door.

The First Thing

This was a pretty good article, and probably is a good explanation of why Mr. Trump is enjoying such a high approval rating. It also says (I think more effectively) what Mr. Reno was swinging towards and (in my opinion) missed by a long shot. Still trying to work through his piece, but as I said, I’m not waking up early enough to think properly. Anyway, Mr. Erickson, who, as we all know does not harbor a deep affection for Mr. Trump, says this about the media:

So I have to wonder if a portion of the press corps is trying to get a lot of Americans killed right now.

Dr. Anthony Fauci has loyally served Presidents of the United States going back to Ronald Reagan. In 2008, due to his loyal service to the nation, President George W. Bush awarded Dr. Fauci the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Dr. Fauci is the most prominent voice in the administration now and its foremost presence on national television. But in the past several days, various media outlets have started pushing stories about Fauci undermining the President. Various reporters on Twitter have grabbed screenshots of Dr. Fauci at White House press briefings where he appears to be rolling his eyes or shaking his head when the President speaks — the full film shows he was not doing either.

There have been stories where the media plays up what appears to be Fauci disagreeing with the President or being critical of the President, but these have been taken out of context too.

Given the media’s presuppositions about the President, it is reasonable to conclude some journalists are trying to get Dr. Fauci fired. Why would they do that? Is this not a crisis where they want the best men and women in charge?

The reason is that the media is addicted to drama. In the past two weeks, there has not only been no drama, but the President’s approval ratings for handling the crisis have gone up. Both Gallup and ABC News have polling showing as much. The drama of the virus should be enough, but the media now is addicted to the soap opera narrative.

I don’t know how accurate this is, but I think most of us are really frustrated, trying to know what is true and what is not true, and it would be nice if the “truth-tellers” in this situation would set aside some animus and be helpful. But, of course, none of us can really do that, even when we try really hard. It requires God’s help.

The Second Thing

Which is why I want to commend the Great Litany to you in the new Anglican prayer book. As I’ve said, I’ve been praying it every morning for a while, using it to sort and structure my prayers, and splicing parts of morning prayer in when I feel like it. It is a very calming exercise. But some bits, as you can imagine, stand out more brightly than others right now.

This:

Remember not, Lord Jesus, our offenses, nor the offenses of our forebears; neither reward us according to our sins. Spare us, good Lord, spare your people, whom you have redeemed with your most precious blood, and by your mercy preserve us for ever.

Spare us, good Lord.

From all evil and wickedness; from sin, from the works and assaults of the devil; from your wrath and everlasting condemnation,

Good Lord, deliver us.

From all blindness of heart; from pride, vanity, and hypocrisy; from envy, hatred, and malice; and from all lack of charity,

Good Lord, deliver us.

From all disordered and sinful affections; and from all the deceits of the world, the flesh, and the devil,

Good Lord, deliver us.

And this:

From lightning and tempest; from earthquake, fire, and flood; from plague, pestilence, and famine,

Good Lord, deliver us.

From all oppression, conspiracy, and rebellion; from violence, battle, and murder; and from dying suddenly and unprepared,

Good Lord, deliver us.

And this:

To visit the lonely and those who grieve; to strengthen all who suffer in mind, body, or spirit; and to comfort with your presence those who are failing and infirm,

We beseech you to hear us, good Lord.

To support, help, and deliver all who are in danger, necessity, and tribulation,

We beseech you to hear us, good Lord.

To have mercy upon all people,

We beseech you to hear us, good Lord.

That it may please you to give us true repentance; to forgive us all our sin, negligence, and ignorance; and to endue us with the grace of your Holy Spirit to amend our lives according to your holy Word,

We beseech you to hear us, good Lord.

And then the optional Supplication at the end:

The Supplication is especially appropriate in times of war, or of great anxiety, or of disaster.

O Lord, arise and help us;

And deliver us for your Name’s sake.

O God, we have heard with our ears, and our forebears have declared to us, the noble works that you did in their days, and in the time before them.

O Lord, arise and help us;

And deliver us for your Name’s sake.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

O Lord, arise and help us;

And deliver us for your Name’s sake.

From our enemies defend us, O Christ;

Graciously behold our afflictions.

With pity behold the sorrows of our hearts;

Mercifully forgive the sins of your people.

With favor hear our prayers;

O Son of David, have mercy upon us.

Be pleased to hear us, O Christ;

Graciously hear us, O Christ; graciously hear us, O Lord Christ.

The Officiant prays

Let us pray.

Look mercifully, O Father, on our infirmities; and, for the glory of your Name, rescue us from all those evils we now endure; and grant that in all our troubles we may put our whole trust and confidence in your mercy, serving you in holiness and purity of life, to your honor and glory; through our only Mediator and Advocate, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer, I think, is so much a matter of righting the tumultuous ship of one’s wild and stormy expectations. If you think one thing is going to happen, and then it doesn’t, you are going to be so angry and disappointed. But what if the thing you expected wasn’t ever in the cards, or is wrong or bad? Bringing all those things to God in prayer is the best way (along with reading the Bible) to find out if you were wrong, or if it was really someone else, and then have God put everything all back in order so that you can be, overall, happier. I say this because of this:

The Third Thing

Matt sent this to me yesterday, which ends this way:

And thirdly, even when the private nuclear household poses no direct physical or mental threat to one’s person – no spouse-battering, no child rape, and no queer-bashing – the private family qua mode of social reproduction still, frankly, sucks. It genders, nationalizes and races us. It norms us for productive work. It makes us believe we are ‘individuals.’ It minimizes costs for capital while maximizing human beings’ life-making labor (across billions of tiny boxes, each kitted out – absurdly – with its own kitchen, micro-crèche and laundry). It blackmails us into mistaking the only sources of love and care we have for the extent of what is possible. We deserve better than the family. And the time of corona is an excellent time to practice abolishing it. In the always lucent words of Anne Boyer: “We must learn to do good for the good of the stranger now. We now have to live as daily evidence that we believe there is value in the lives of the cancer patient, the elderly person, the disabled one, the ones in unthinkable living conditions, crowded and at risk.” We do not know yet if we will be able to wrench something better than capitalism from the wreckage of this Plague and the coming Depression. I would only posit with some certainty that, in 2020, the dialectic of families against the family, of real homes against the home, shall intensify.

Basically the person writing this thinks that the solution to all our problems is to abolish the family as an evil and wicked consequence capitalism. Seriously, read the whole thing. I did a couple of times, looking for what she would like to put in its place.

I mean, I do think that the West, by which I mean the dying light of Europe and America, might be just a touch overly in love with worldly goods, to put it rather mildly. I think most people would agree with me. We, corporately, have made a lot of bad economic and moral decisions in the last at least hundred years, have followed the devices and desires of our hearts so that there is not really very much, if any at all, health in us. Lots of people are suffering, and it’s kind of a huge drag that the trillion or whatever number of dollars the congress just voted to payout includes a lot of ridiculousness. But I will just go out on a limb and say that abolishing the family is probably not a great idea right now, or ever. Indeed, if there is anything good that comes out of this, the forced slow down that we are all experiencing is probably one of them, though the accompanying anxiety is a real drag. Having to spend time with “the family” is an interesting proposition, especially, as she says, if that family is abusive or dysfunctional. In that case, this time is particularly painful. But having to do the actual work to care for the body, for other people in close approximation to yourself (I think that’s the housework piece she, and indeed I, and most of us are so upset about) is, like prayer, a good thing. It rights the ship of wrong expectations. This is not a feminist problem, it is a human problem. We don’t want to do the hard things, like sweep the floor or cook the food and listen to someone else’s confused thoughts and ideas. We want some cheap trinkets for little or no money. How gracious of God to listen to us when we cry out to him, no matter how wrong we are. How good for us if we try to listen to each other, to calm the cacophony of voices and sit very simply at a kitchen table and hear what the people closest to us have to say. Just a thought. Could be totally wrong.

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