Alka's Angle

This week marks the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment -- the amendment which prohibits the states and the federal government from denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex. One would think that was the end of the denial of voting rights for women -- but this was neither the beginning, nor the end of this discrimination. Just like any other injustice, this too was complicated. 

The storm (Derecho: a widespread, straight-line wind storm associated with a fast-moving group of severe thunderstorms potentially rivaling hurricanic and tornadic forces), on Monday was a strong one. I have not seen anything like this before. It caused a lot of damage with about 15 tornadoes that touched down in the Chicagoland area. I am grateful that there was no damage to our church property, but several trees came down or were up-rooted, causing damage to cars and property and thousands of residents lost power. 

I can't even believe we are in August. Where have the months gone? In some ways it feels like the last 4 months have just disappeared and in some ways it feels like the longest season of our lives. Seems like a blur.

If you are following our governor’s daily briefings then you know that our state reported 1,772 COVID cases yesterday -- highest number of cases in more than 2 months. Governor Pritzker suggested that our state is reaching the ‘danger point,’ and inviting residents to ‘pay attention’ --  to wear masks, maintain safe distancing and wash hands as frequently as we can.

I had posted an apology on the church’s facebook page right after worship last week, but I know that not everyone is on facebook, so I wanted to take some time here and once again apologize to those who were in worship last week and felt disrespected, disrupted and harmed by the comments that were posted in the chat space (those who were not in worship -- please refrain from asking what happened -- no one needs to re-live that).