Tragedy on a plane flight – Uncertainties of travel – Death of James Randi – Religion without magic – Mall shopping – New games with political motifs – The upcoming debate – Evening statistics
A recent episode shows how uncertain travel has become, especially when using transportation shared by others. Yesterday a woman died from the COVID virus on a plane flight from Las Vegas to Dallas. She fell unconscious on the flight and stopped breathing, and all attempts at resuscitation failed. The autopsy revealed that she was COVID-infected. She had underlying conditions – morbid obesity and asthma – and recently she had afflicted with shortness of breath, but in all probability she was unaware that she had become infected when she boarded the plane. She was only 38 years old. Not only is this story tragic in itself, but all of the other passengers are now in a state of suspense as to whether they might have contracted the virus from her.
I myself had apprehensions traveling on Tuesday, concerning both the Metro and the flight to Bangor. The Metro was much less full than it has been in the past, even on late mornings past the rush hour, and everyone wore masks. The flight, similarly, was less than half full, everyone wore masks, and as the airline provided no food or drink service (there is no need for one, since the flight is about 90 minutes long at the most), no one removed his or her mask at any time. Still, I’ve been in close proximity in an enclosed space with several people over a sustained period of time. I plan to get tested to reassure myself that I haven’t become infected. It seems likely that people will have to take such precautions every time they travel for some time to come.
James Randi died yesterday at 92. Professional magicians are famously skeptical about anyone who makes claims of possessing supernatural or paranormal powers, but Randi was more active than most, devoting his life to exposing the frauds by which people such as faith healers, astrologers, mind readers, palm readers, tarot card readers, parapsychologists, etc., induced untold numbers of people to part with their money and sometimes with their health as well.
I’ve never thought of myself as particularly pious, but I am gratified to come from a heritage that made a significant contribution to the world at large: namely, the concept of a deity who cannot be constrained or conditioned by rites and ceremonies of magic. The attitude is perhaps best defined by prophet Elijah, laughing at the priests of Baal as they recite their futile charms and incantations, and asking ironically whether Baal is failing to respond because he is out of town at the moment or perhaps taking a nap. Regrettably, the idea of a deity uncontaminated by magic is one that humanity in general has been very reluctant to accept. Judaism may have originated the concept, but as time wore on the mystical Gnostic element kept intruding , eventually resulting in the retreat into the Cabala – and a retreat is precisely what it was – and then of course the Hasidic movement made matters worse, blithely ascribing miracles to their favored rebbes and affording them a status that any priest of Baal might envy. The record of Christianity is no better: even though Christ himself displayed considerable irritation when people persisted in regarding him as a miracle-monger (see Matthew 16:1-4, for example), the Catholic Church elevates miracles to quasi-divine status – no one can be canonized, for instance, unless evidence of a miracle performed after his or her death is produced – and the Protestant sects have their emotionally overwrought faith-healers. Nor do secularists do much better; there are legions of non-believers who nonetheless place their faith in astrology, cryptids, Tarot cards, dowsing rods, and who knows what else. G. K. Chesterton said that they should not be called non-believers but should be labeled as all-believers. Hardly any group, it seems, can do without some of variety of magic.
And yet how tawdry this impulse is, after all, reducing God to the level of a stage performer! For those who wish to experience a miracle, I would say: get outside for a moment and take a look at the variety of leaf colors in autumn or at various plants germinating in the spring; gently touch a baby’s cheek to appreciate its texture, at once soft and firm, like a ripe plum; listen to the chorus of birdsong in the morning; observe a cat walking along the narrow top of fence ten feet high with the ease and confidence we show on treading a sidewalk; go into the kitchen while a loaf of bread is baking and sniff to take in its aroma; plant a seed, a bulb, or a shoot in the earth and watch it transform itself into a flower, or an edible vegetable, or even an entire tree. These are miracles worth having. Because they occur every day we take them for granted, but none of our numerous laboratories can even come close to duplicating a single one of them. This perhaps is the meaning of the verse about the kingdom of heaven belonging to little children: to very young children almost everything they see and hear and touch is strange and wonderful, and in this attitude they display greater wisdom than their more blasé seniors.
RIP, James Randi. You will be missed. People like you are needed. You may have considered yourself an atheist, but you came far closer to a genuinely religious life than any of the numerous faith healers and self-appointed priests, church-sponsored or secular, whom you helped to debunk.
On a more personal note, I went to the optometrist today to have my eyes dilated for the purposes of inspection for cataract and laser scars as a result of the retina re-attachment operation four years ago. When it was over she told me not to go outside without sunglasses because the dilation would make my eyes sensitive to the glare of the sun for a few hours. I had not brought sunglasses with me but I thought: no problem – the optometrist’s office is within a mall, and surely I can pick up a pair at one of the stores. And so it was that I discovered at first hand why department stores are going out of business. The effects of the COVID virus, of course, have been severe upon the retail industry, but department stores have been dwindling in any case. My present predicament highlighted one reason: I had quite a difficult time finding what I wanted. At both Macy’s and Lord & Taylor the sunglasses were placed adjacent to the counters displaying jewelry, and they were every bit as expensive as necklaces. Had I bought one of them, I would have wound up paying considerably more for a pair without any vision correction than I did for the prescription glasses that I use for reading. At last I found a selection of quite usable sunglasses at J. C. Penney’s for under $15. But I’m afraid that in general the typical department store chain at this point is a jack-of-all-trades and master of none. One can buy better and cheaper products at other stores that specialize in them, and the Internet has made searching for the items with the most affordable prices much easier (including, of course, those that can be ordered by mail). Already Lord & Taylor’s is closing its doors, and others are certain to follow suit.
While I was at the mall I amused myself by taking glimpses at a few other stores, although I am not a window shopper in general. One store specialized in various games, especially in those that appeal to young children. When I took a look I found, to my surprise, two new games inspired by Donald Trump. One is a game called “No Trump,” in which each player draws a card in turn. The card contains four intentionally outrageous quotations, and the player who draws it has to guess which one Trump did not originate. The player who guesses the greatest number of “no-Trump” quotations wins. The other operates in a similar manner – that is, of players drawing a card in turns – but in this case the card postulates a certain situation (such as Twitter banning misstatements about the coronavirus, for example) along with three possible reactions from Trump, and the player has to guess which one Trump is most likely to take. Again, the player with the greatest number of correct guesses wins. Should Trump be defeated in the upcoming election (as I earnestly hope he will), it will be a great benefit to the country at large, but it must be admitted that our political scene will become significantly less colorful as a result.
The last Presidential debate is scheduled for tonight, and I am bracing myself to watch as much of it as I can stand. The people running the debate have said that they will cut of the microphone of either candidate who makes an unauthorized interruption.. But I have no doubt that my friend Donald is equal to the occasion. Surely he can raise his voice and scream and shriek and shout and rant without the benefit of any microphone. He has been a bit hoarse of late, to be sure; but if he is in need of assistance he should be able to turn to Kimberly Guilfoyle, his Daughter-in-Law Elect, for training in vocal projection.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 41,963,462; # of deaths worldwide: 1,142,085; # of cases U.S.: 8,657,940; # of deaths U.S.: 228,305. Our figures with respect to the rest of the world have decreased to some extent. We now account for a little over 20% of the cases worldwide and just under 20% of the deaths. About 29% of the cases still active are American. But this (comparative) improvement may not last long; today’s increase of new cases was over 70,000.