Though it seems far longer, Michigan's anti-pandemic measures are not even a week old. The colleges went to remote classes a week ago, school was out last week, but subsequent orders regarding bars, theaters, churches and now nail salons are merely days old.
Things are moving quickly, but slowly.
Winston Churchill wrote that the thing that scared him most during World War II was the Battle of the Atlantic. The heroism of Royal Air Force pilots and the unflinching courage of the British people could not prevail against the primordial forces of starvation.
There were no dramatic turning points to that battle, just lines on a chart.
That's where we are today – watching lines on a chart to see if we are winning or losing. The moments of courage, fear and loss can tug at our hearts, but the real battlefield is an impersonal spreadsheet.
As I watch civil authorities struggle to pull resources together and fight an impersonal and implacable enemy, my mind goes back to the "war" against another, similar enemy.
In that case, it was an oil spill.
I guess that's what happens when you get old – you think you've seen it all before. And maybe you have, but back then there were some people saying it was a sign of certain doom and others claiming it was nothing but hype.
The risk is when you think you've seen it before, and it looks like it, but you didn't. There's something new, and doing things the same old way might not work.
I'm not one for overtly public professions of faith, but I hope you and yours are doing well and keeping your spirits up.
Chateau Lloyd 
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