(By David Prentice) I don’t know about you, but this current cloud of global fear is present for me, and present for most of us. I fight daily with what I am calling the ghost town effect.
Does anyone recall the days after 9/11? The country shut down in a similar way. People went home. You looked up, and there were no planes. Businesses shut down. The stock market fell. Quiet came to the country as we came to grips with what happened.
There was a lot of fear. Fear was a huge part of the early days after the towers fell. There was a lot that was unknown. There was a lot of confusion. As an American, most of us were trying to wrestle with news reports, with the deaths of so many in the Twin Towers, and others. It shocked our system. The parallels today are significant.
The quiet was eerie. Staring up and seeing no planes was unsettling. It was like being in a ghost town.
But not nearly as unsettling, or fearful as the quiet we are seeing now. For one thing, it didn’t last as long. The cause of radical Islam was identified, Al Qaeda targeted, and a country responded. The markets returned, the country went back to work. And the Democrats waited at least three weeks before they began their narrative that Bush was Hitler. Correction, a stupid form of Hitler.
This time it’s tougher. The enemy is invisible. Well, the virus is invisible Unfortunately our devious, and evil media is not. Trump had already been Hitler since before his election. Now (according to them), he’s for sure Hitler. And incompetent. And lying. Again. The quiet is longer, the markets have gone down further, schools in most states are shut down. Businesses in many states are shut down. People are facing layoffs. Uncertainty reigns.
Our media has identified the enemy, and of course, to them it’s Donald Trump, and his voters. And they have engaged in non-stop narrative building, aka lying, that China is the hero, and somehow this is all Trump’s fault. They have no shame; they are an embarrassment. To everyone, most of all, to themselves.
We live under this cloud of uncertainty. Tensions are higher than normal for most. Many are cooped up in a kind of self-quarantine. Waiting to see if this inactivity will lead to victory against our invisible foe. Some of my anger has been directed against meddling officiousness, and the misinformation. All of us should be angry at that part.
But I want to pivot from dealing with anger, to dealing with the issue of fear. The fear that the self-righteous Pharisees in the media have been hurling against the wall for months now.
Which all of us have grappled with to one degree or another. I know I have. More than anything I would love to see fear stood against the wall and shot, but I will accept trying to refresh us all with the armor of how to combat it. In ourselves and others.
It has caused so many of us to live in ghost towns.
I want to take us from our cloud of fear by pointing to one of the best sources of medical information I have seen. It’s a video from a doctor on the front lines in NYC, David Price of the Weill Cornell Medical Center. He deals with the virus daily, and has, daily, for many weeks. He has given us the best information I have seen, in the best possible way.
Watch the first thirty minutes, or to the end— it may be the finest, most informative time you will spend in the next week or month: Click, view, and learn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxyH1rkuLaw
John records Jesus saying this: “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” Now, I realize there are different levels here, and a context to that saying, but what I am not taking out of context is that Jesus thought the concept of truth as extraordinarily important.
He speaks of it a lot. The point is clear. He thought it was of primary importance. He often used it to confront improper understanding, and that’s good enough for me.
Early in this video, this doctor, who has confronted coronavirus in one of the hotbeds of the world, says this (my paraphrase): He isn’t being emotional about this discussion because he is afraid. On the contrary he says, he is emotional because he is no longer afraid of this virus. Because he understands it. He knows how you get it, how to not get it, what to do when you get it, and when you should go to the hospital for it.
The truth about this virus set him free. And it should do that with all of us. Please watch his explanations, I promise they will help.
I will attempt to encapsulate his medical explanations here, but please, if you can, let my encapsulations send you to the video. I am vainly repeating, he is authoritative. I am repeating, so please confirm any, and all of this with a doctor. Here’s a summary of what Dr. Price says in the linked video:
*The virus is spread mainly by sustained contact with those who have it. Many of whom are asymptomatic during their early days of contact with it.
*The virus comes though by way of your eyes, nose, and mouth.
*The virus gets there mainly through your own hands touching your own face.
*The virus is a wimp. Meaning you can kill it very quickly before it gets to your face. Plus, if you don’t touch your face, you are highly unlikely, (upper 90 percentile) to not get it.
*You kill it by washing your hands as prescribed.
*You kill it by using Purell, or hand disinfectant often, mindfully, and carefully.
*You prevent it from getting to you by doing these things a lot, along with being careful with your hands when you are out. You try to touch as little as possible, and when you do, you wash, and use Purell every time you get the chance. Never touch your face unless you are clean.
*Get in the habit of not touching your face. Period.
*If you have a mask, or even a bandana, wear it when you go out to remind yourself not to touch your face.
*Use common sense social distancing, all the time.
*If you get symptoms, contact your physician first.
*Your doctor can tell you if you can get a test or not, as testing is not for everyone, nor is it available for everyone.
*Do not panic if you get it. He gives good information how to deal with it.
*Dr. Price explains that you will feel crummy, have a fever, often a cough, and cold like/flu like symptoms.
*He reminds you that most people do not get harmed by it. It’s not necessarily a death sentence. For most, it’s a rotten sickness, one that make you feel these various rotten symptoms for 5-7 days for the most part. Some less, some more.
*With a physician’s advice, you can quarantine yourself, using their prescribed methodology at home.
*The most important symptom that determines if you should rush to the hospital comes if you abnormally, suddenly find yourself out of breath. That is the key. Do not mess with that symptom.
There you have it, the full video rundown from Dr. David Price, MD, of Weill Cornell Medical Center.
Now please, to be clear, I am NOT a doctor. Rather I am simply giving some bullet points about what this doctor said. I am asking you to take wonderful advice from a doctor on the front lines, one who knows the disease, one who can help you not fear it. Hopefully his knowledge can set you free.
Fear itself. A terrible, yet common emotion. Coronavirus can be fearful. But like this Doctor, face it with cool, hard facts. Drive fear out. Fear is the cloud that wants to conquer us. Fear is an enemy of life; fear is a toxin that freezes us. Fear is something God hates. Fear is something He knows can destroy us. Fear is something God wants to drive from our lives. Fear is one of those things He wants to free us from.
“The truth shall set you free.”
When God is sends an angel with a message, the first thing said is always: “Fear not”.
Because God loves us, and cares for us. He wants us to be free. Freedom from fear is a big part of his love for us.
David Prentice has published in American Thinker and Epoch Times, and is now working on a novel. He lives near Traverse City, Michigan. Contact: davidprentice2@yahoo.com
