Liz Writes Life 12-9-2020

Liz Writes Life

December 9, 2020

More is happening on the religious worship front. After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor by 5-4 of a Roman Catholic and Jewish lawsuit against New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo, two weeks ago, (regarding bias on covid-19 restrictions against churches) two religious groups in California found some support from U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan. You see, each Supreme Court Justice is given a U.S. District Court of Appeals of which he or she oversees. Kagan was recently assigned to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals based in the Western United States area.

Harvest Rock Church and Harvest International Ministry had filed an injunction – pending appeal – in their federal lawsuit against California Governor Gavin Newsom. Newsom has been ignoring the injunction and the church’s emergency petition. So it was stalled. Maybe Newsom thought it would go away. But, after review of the case, Justice Kagan ordered Newsom to respond to the emergency petition.

I see this as good news, because Newsom has been told he must follow the legal process and not stall or ignore these legal complaints. And, yes, it is surprising that it is Kagan who issued the order. So, a big “thank you” goes out to Kagan.

Strip clubs

In another turn of events, two pastors of two different California mega-churches decided to rebrand their churches into temporary “strip clubs,” so they can remain open. Leah MarieAnn Klett, a writer for “The Christian Post” reported on Dec. 3, 2020 that the pastors said they were protesting the state’s closing of religious worship due to covid-19, while strip clubs were able to stay open.

Apparently, churches are not the only ones filing lawsuits against pandemic restrictions. At least one superior court judge, in San Diego County, has ordered California to end any actions that stop live adult entertainment in clubs. So the bias against religious worship looks very real, when strip clubs can remain open and religious places of worship must close, because of the governor’s edict.

The pastors say they came up with their strip club alternative from former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who quipped in an interview that possibly churches should reopen as temporary strip clubs. To follow the idea of a “strip,” Huckabee suggested a rebranded church’s pastor could simply remove his tie – and only his tie.

The Christian Post article said that Godspeak Calvary Chapel Pastor Rob McCoy has been fined thousands of dollars for holding worship services in spite of the covid-19 restrictions and is one of the pastors that decided to rebrand his church. McCoy is quite outspoken about the bias to shut-down churches. And, he stripped himself of his tie while preaching.

Also, Jurgen Matthesius, who is Senior Pastor of Awaken Church, did a “striptease” of removing his tie before his sermon and then posted the video to social media. His church has been renamed “Now Awaken Family Friendly Strip Club!”

Pastor Matthesius said this club will “strip the devil of his hold, power and authority over people’s lives.”

So, there you have it: Some innovative thinking among hypocritical restrictions.

Garden

My garden looks so much better. There were several things that I needed help with, so I picked-up my two grandsons last Friday. Bryce is a big teenager and Colton is 10 – and both worked hard. First, we stacked the last pile of wood. Then, Bryce cut the tall dry hollyhocks stems and bushy asparagus. Colton and I picked up slimy zucchini and pulled tangled tomato vines. Then it was hauled out to several piles for burning later.

We also cleaned-up the prickly dried amaranth, gladiolus stems and other flowers. I put some of the amaranth in a paper bag and brought into the house to dry as there was more moisture than I realized in the old plants. I will shake them in a few days hoping some of the black tiny seeds are still there and will fall out. Several friends have asked for seeds, so they will be shared.

Gotta mention that I am still quite happy with the mulch of lawn clippings that I layered throughout the garden. A friend had mentioned to be careful of lawn clippings, because they typically get slimy. I can sure see that could be true most of the time, but it was so dry this year with very little rain (and I don’t use a sprinkler) that they dried-out almost immediately -- and remained dry. Also, my garden gets full-all-day sun. There were some slimy clippings under the yucky slimy zucchini, but I just mixed it into the soil and it should continue to deteriorate.

The clippings have certainly provided a protection for the soil that is now soft and moist. So, this year, the clippings mulch worked. Next year – who knows?

We didn’t get the annuals or perennials in the wild flower garden under the pine tree cleaned-out, because it was getting dark. It was such a nice day that I worked in my t-shirt – no jacket, until sundown. But, oh boy, did I pay for those couple hours of work. I was sore for several days! But, at least the garden got cleaned-up in the same year it was grown, which doesn’t often happen!

Liz Bowen began writing ranch and farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native of Siskiyou County and lives near Callahan. Columns from the past can be found at: lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.

 

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