Todd Sandel's Blog from Macau

 " To heal, we must remember ." Joe Biden uttered these poignant words on the eve of his inauguration, as he paid tribute to those who died because of Covid-19. I distinctly remember the horror that I felt the night that the would-be-tyrant won the election. I was terrified of what would happen to the country, and the world. And as this terrible man departs the people's house, many of those fears have been tragically realized. History will not look kindly on this man. And I hope that in the coming weeks, months, and years, those who supported him realize the gravity of their error. But now is a time to look forward with hope to a man who has a heart, who has compassion, and has the will to heal the nation. Thanks be to God, Stacey Abrams , and the more than 80 million who voted for Joe Biden.

 The year 2020 is finally and thankfully past. A year ago I started reading news about this mystery virus in China. At first we were told that it was linked to a wet market in Wuhan, and that it did not spread easily. But then, ... the rest is a global story.  I t's also a local story. Here in Macau, after making it through the frightful and locked-down months of February and March, by April things looked much better. And then when it was clear that the virus was  under control, as long as the borders were kept secure, life for the most part resumed its normal rhythms. Apart from the habit of mask-wearing, we could do almost all the things that we used to enjoy--shopping, going out to restaurants, meeting with friends, and even having church services. Then the university made the decision to begin in-class instruction in September. We met without fear of infection, although I found that mask-wearing meant that it was hard for me to recognize the individual identities of my 60 plus