Musings on the Path

You go to war with the army you have.

Donald Rumsfeld

Rumsfeld took a lot of flack when he said this during the Iraqi invasion. It didn’t comfort the families whose members were dying due to shrapnel from Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) that penetrated the vehicles that weren’t armored against that kind of attacks. This is a corollary to the observation that armed forces are always fighting the previous war. I’m seeing this in the various churches response to lockdown in Austin.

Last week, the two medium size churches I’m involved with decided days ahead of time to cancel in-person worship and go on-line. This was before the gather size limits were imposed. A smaller church decided to continue holding in-person services. The former two worship services probably would have been illegal by the time they would have met last Sunday. The latter was still legal at the time they met. Two days later, all three would have been illegal.

The first church was already archiving the sermon audio. This was largely controlled from a computer in the loft. Last Sunday, they had video on YouTube that was recorded and shot from the loft with the computer and operator on the edge of the frame. The readings were audio only by someone off-camera. The piano on the sanctuary floor was recorded from the loft. As worship, it fell flat.

The other medium size church never made it on-line as far as I can tell. The promise was “preach on-line on Facebook”. Nothing on their Facebook page.

The little church had worship as usual. No recording. They started worship with two musicians, two clergy, and three people in the congregation growing to seven people by the sermon. Small turnout, but not wildly so.

This week the first church moved the camera onto the sanctuary floor, facing the ministers across the altar. A stain glass window was visible behind the ministers. The Lenten cross and crystal bowl/bell on the altar were visible. The latter was rung in the usual places. The music and the readings were prerecorded and inserted into the live streaming in the usual places. The congregational hymns had the music playing and the lyrics displayed. There was a chat stream down the right side so you had a sense of who was watching. The prayers of the people were texted to the minister. Largely what they already had in place with improvements on what didn’t work the previous week.

The second church still isn’t on-line, though their Website says they are broadcasting worship every Sunday. The link isn’t live.

The third church cancelled in-person worship after the 10 person gathering limit was imposed. The pastor wavered but did cancel when the Bishop insisted. They were already holding Wednesday evening Bible Study as a conference call. Bible Study was in-person five years ago and had 3-5 people. After the Charleston Emmanuel AMEC shootings, they shifted to a conference call and grew to 10-15 people. This Sunday they will hold Bible Study on Sunday evening instead of morning worship.

Yesterday, I received a text telling me I had a parcel in the lockers. Expected but several days late (2 days usually, 4 days this time). It’s a refill of some OTC anti-viral supplements. Today (Sunday), I received a text about a parcel in the lockers. Unexpected. FedEx had delivered descaling liquid for our espresso machine. Needed, but not urgent. But this time there was a package of wipes in the area and a notice to please wipe down the keypad and the locker. Interesting.

Austin has slowed way down. Wednesday we went to the supermarket early to get staples that weren’t on the shelf the previous trip. This was in the middle of the morning rush hour. Normally, we only consider turning right out of the apartment complex, too much traffic. There was none in either direction. We did find everything except the almond milk. There was a limit of 4 rice items. I bought the last pre-cooked rice pack.

Thursday we again went to the supermarket early, a half hour after they open (2 hours after their usual opening so they could restock). Again no commute traffic and no almond milk on the shelf or in the dairy case. My wife asked one the people restocking. He found a pallet of it in the back and dropped several into the sloped shelves from the back for her to pull out. People are still buying cases of things (e.g. beans), but their carts aren’t filled to the brim. Shopping for the long haul, but little obvious panic buying. The pallet of Ozarka spring water half liters was full, which it wasn’t the day before.

In the last week or so, we’ve only eaten out once. Normally we eat out one meal a day, usually lunch. Our most common lunch place is Luby’s cafeteria. After we shopped and put everything away, I went on-line to order lunch to be picked up. The site worked well though I thought I was ordering fresh green beans and received canned green beans. I added a comment, the roasted chicken should be a leg and thigh (dark quarter). We received breast and wing, more meat and not over cooked this time. A good meal. While we were waited to be served, we saw people in the “closed” dining area getting food off the line to-go. We’ll do that next time, no surprises what we are getting. When I placed the on-line order, I was told it would be ready in 15 minutes. I received a text before we were out the door that it was ready (approx. 5 minutes). If we had picked out our order there, the food would have been 10 minutes warmer.

Tuesday around noon, the Mayor of Austin and a Travis County judge announced a shutdown of all bars and restaurant dining areas (take-out and delivery are still allowed) and a ban on all meetings or gatherings with ten people or more At the time, the CDC recommendation was less than 50 in general, 10 for high risk populations. The public schools and the University of Texas at Austin were already shutdown. The less than 10 recommendation seemed over reacting at the time. Now I’m not so sure. “Coronavirus: Why You Must Act Now” convinced me they are not over-reacting. The possible toll, if correct, is staggering: 96 million cases in the US and 480,000 deaths. Ten times the usual flu season.