The
first official day of summer came in like a lion. On June 20, Atlanta’s temperature reached 90
degrees. The longest day of the year became the hottest day of the year so
far.
In
this heat, wearing a mask to escape the Covid-19 virus is uncomfortable and
suffocating unless in an air-conditioned car or store. A recent study published
by Kayla Rivas was posted on Fox News Online entitled “Summer rays can
inactivate coronavirus in 34 minutes.” The study said that the super-heated
cities of Miami and Houston produced enough solar radiation to kill the virus
in a short period of time. In other less
hot locations, the virus stays activated for a day or more. The benefits of being outside in the sun
outweigh being locked down in a house where the virus can more easily spread. I am enjoying my fully opened moon roof on my
car because the sun’s radiation is helping me to stay healthy.
Things
are also getting hot in our cities. Like the summer of 1967, race riots are the
staple of the news. It breaks my heart
to see the damage done to people and property because of the actions of a few
rogue police officers. Changes need to
be made, but defunding or dismantling police departments will only lead to more
murder and anarchy. Our freedom as
Americans is at stake because freedom cannot flourish during instability.
Even
Siberia is having a heat wave. Verkhoyansk, a town north of the Arctic
Circle, experienced 100.4-degree temperatures on the first day of summer. The
residents are enjoying the unusual heat wave, but the melting permafrost is not
good for the environment. Temperatures this high have not been recorded in this
region for thousands of years.
What I’d really like to do to escape all the bad news of this summer is to stream
the 1958 movie The Long Hot Summer with Paul Newman and Joanne
Woodward. It would take me back to my
more carefree teenage years when life was easier.
In the meantime, I must rely on God’s promise of peace in the midst of
turmoil.
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you.
I do not give to you as the world gives.
Do
not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
John14:27
