A friend of mine recently shared what has become my favorite story that can remind us all how to accomplish our dreams. Ben and Roy started working at a car dealership on the same day. Both men were incredibly similar; they had the same education, background, and amount of money in the bank. The only difference between them was that Ben was always thinking about ‘what ifs’ and Roy was only focused on the problems right in front of him – ‘what is.’

On their first day of work, Ben spent the entire day watching other salesman and reading books on selling. He was terrified that he might mess up and wanted to be able to cover any possible situation before ever even talking to a customer.

Roy, on the other hand, realized that he had only one ‘problem’ (and one thing to focus on), which was getting customers to buy cars. Because of this, he spent his whole first day approaching customers and trying to get sales. He quickly realized that he was a below average salesman and that customers did not respond to his sales pitch. He went home that night and spent a few hours on Google trying to figure out what he did wrong and how he could fix it.

Both men sold zero cars on their first day. The next morning, Ben saw something on the news about a car salesman in another town getting sued for selling a defective car. While Ben’s Boss reassured him that there were no defective cars on their lot, Ben was still worried that he might get sued one day for the same issue. He was so focused on this news story that he spent his whole second day learning about defective cars and inspecting every car in his area for defects. On the other side of the lot, Roy kept working at his only problem, selling cars. In his research the night before, he learned a trick to change his sales pitch. This resulted in him selling one car that morning. He almost sold two other cars but lost the customers in negotiation. Roy then realized his new problem was negotiating. After work, he went home, sat on his computer, and focused on learning how to negotiate.

Ben sold zero cars and Roy sold one car on their second day. On the third day, Ben talked to Roy, and Roy mentioned that negotiation gave him trouble. Ben, who at this point had still not talked to a single customer, decided that he needed to learn how to negotiate before taking any action. He spent the whole day walking around the lot asking other salespeople how to negotiate.

Roy, on the other hand, sold four cars because of his great sales pitch and because he learned that people were more likely to buy a car if he gave them a discount on leather seats during negotiation. Ben sold zero cars and Roy sold four cars on their third day.

The next day, a customer who bought a car the previous day came in angry with Roy because Roy had been incorrect about some of the car’s details since he was in such rush to sell cars. Roy apologized and refunded the customer. Ben saw this and was scared that it would happen to him, so he spent all day memorizing all the details for all the cars in the lot.

Now, Israel, hear the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you.

Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him? And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today? – Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8

Hold on to God’s word. It is your road map for life. God’s word does not change. Yes, mankind changes, because mankind is imperfect. God is perfect, righteous, holy and unchanging. His word is eternal.

In the above text, Moses, who had been the leader of the Israelites for more than 40 years, makes his farewell speech. He reinforces God’s instructions to the people through his law.

He recounts his time with the people and reminds them about the mighty and wonderful God whom they serve. This God is the powerful God who had brought them out of slavery in Egypt and who had kept them during their wilderness journey.

This wonderful God whom many of the people had rejected repeatedly, is still powerful. He reminds them that the God of years past is still as powerful as He was during the wilderness year.

When the people lived in accordance with God’s law, they enjoyed the favor of God. We, too, in these times, enjoy God’s favor when we walk in righteousness.

Moses told the people to follow God’s law in its purity. He implored them to keep God’s law that they neither add to them nor take away from them. “You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you.”

God’s word is constant. It does not need any improvements.

Last week Friday, the highly-regarded US Centre for Disease Control Director Dr Rochelle Walensky offered: "There is a clear message that is coming through: This is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated", which is becoming a term of art in the medical field.

Her remarks were later echoed by Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, but he was pilloried by some for saying generally the same thing. Perhaps those who criticized the Prime Minister might wish to similarly criticize Dr Walensky or perhaps they were blithely ill-informed or unaware of her comments. #Walensky, a physician-scientist, has an impressive resume, including as an expert on HIV/AIDS. She served as a medical professor at Harvard Medical School and at the well-known teaching hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, as Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases. #Perhaps those who were quick and pat in criticizing the Prime Minister’s comment, even suggesting it was “curious”, might wish to reconsider their ill-advised and somewhat knee-jerk commentary, given a number of medical experts have generally the same view, though some might soft pedal their views. #It is not that the pandemic is mostly over. The larger point is that it is overwhelmingly the unvaccinated who are suffering the worst health effects, with many succumbing to COVID-19 dying tragically and needlessly. #Those who opine for a living should be as judicious and as nuanced as possible, providing context and greater understanding. Dr Walensky also noted of the pandemic in the US: “We are seeing outbreaks in parts of the country where we’re seeing low vaccination coverage. The good news is, if you’re fully vaccinated, you’re protected … our biggest concern is we are going to continue to see preventable cases, hospitalizations and, sadly, deaths among the unvaccinated.” #The virus and its variants are overwhelmingly being spread by and are infecting the unvaccinated. #John Hopkins Centre for Health Security Senior Fellow D Amesh Adalja stressed: “It’s likely that COVID-19 is now moving into a phase where it’s a regional problem and not a systemic problem for the country, because of the differential in vaccinations. Fully vaccinated areas are going to see a very blunted impact of Delta.” #And Boston Children’s Hospital’s John Brownstein, PhD, noted: “The impact of the more transmissible Delta variant will not be felt in a uniform way across the country. Major pockets of unvaccinated people will continue to be the main hosts that will allow this virus to circulate.”

Her remarks were later echoed by Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, but he was pilloried by some for saying generally the same thing. Perhaps those who criticized the Prime Minister might wish to similarly criticize Dr Walensky or perhaps they were blithely ill-informed or unaware of her comments.

Walensky, a physician-scientist, has an impressive resume, including as an expert on HIV/AIDS. She served as a medical professor at Harvard Medical School and at the well-known teaching hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, as Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases.

Perhaps those who were quick and pat in criticizing the Prime Minister’s comment, even suggesting it was “curious”, might wish to reconsider their ill-advised and somewhat knee-jerk commentary, given a number of medical experts have generally the same view, though some might soft pedal their views.

It is not that the pandemic is mostly over. The larger point is that it is overwhelmingly the unvaccinated who are suffering the worst health effects, with many succumbing to COVID-19 dying tragically and needlessly.

Those who opine for a living should be as judicious and as nuanced as possible, providing context and greater understanding. Dr Walensky also noted of the pandemic in the US: “We are seeing outbreaks in parts of the country where we’re seeing low vaccination coverage. The good news is, if you’re fully vaccinated, you’re protected … our biggest concern is we are going to continue to see preventable cases, hospitalizations and, sadly, deaths among the unvaccinated.”

The virus and its variants are overwhelmingly being spread by and are infecting the unvaccinated.

John Hopkins Centre for Health Security Senior Fellow D Amesh Adalja stressed: “It’s likely that COVID-19 is now moving into a phase where it’s a regional problem and not a systemic problem for the country, because of the differential in vaccinations. Fully vaccinated areas are going to see a very blunted impact of Delta.”

And Boston Children’s Hospital’s John Brownstein, PhD, noted: “The impact of the more transmissible Delta variant will not be felt in a uniform way across the country. Major pockets of unvaccinated people will continue to be the main hosts that will allow this virus to circulate.”

 

Have you ever stopped to consider what “the new norm” in the COVID pandemic could mean for your freedoms and your democracy that gives rise to them?

In the words of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen, “democracy is not just an election, it is our daily life” – a life that for Bahamians has been altered in ways that might not be easily reversed whenever the current state of emergency ends.

With emergency restrictions plunging workers and business owners into financial insecurity, many have been far more focused on how to make ends meet and how to stay safe from COVID, than on the extent to which their safety in a weakened democracy has been compromised.

While necessary focus has been placed on protecting the country’s healthcare system, and public health protocols focus on protecting the country from widespread COVID-19 outbreaks, protecting the democracy has not figured nearly as prominently as is necessary to safeguard the Bahamian people well beyond a COVID state of emergency.

In our July 2020 piece, “Emergencies and power”, and our November 2020 piece “Unholy war”, we focused on why a state of emergency in a democracy ought to exist for only the shortest possible time and advanced the position that a protracted suspension of constitutional rights and departure from normal parliamentary oversight, were not necessary to adequately respond to the ongoing pandemic.

A March 2021 United States Council on Foreign Relations discussion paper on COVID-19 and its effect on inequality and democracy, asserted that COVID-19 fosters democratic regression.

The paper, which published a study on five large democracies including the United States and India, stated, “Recent leaders of these large democracies, like many of their peers in the COVID-19 era, have used the pandemic to expand their executive power.

“… All five have attacked institutions such as independent judiciaries, bureaucracies, civil societies, electoral apparatuses, and the media. These governments have also often stepped up attacks on norms and institutions during the pandemic when civil society groups have had more trouble holding demonstrations and citizens are distracted by their own reasonable fears for their health and their families.

“These five large democracies are symbolic of larger trends, as the pandemic has caused democratic regression in much of the world. Yet these countries’ trajectories carry special weight regionally and internationally because they head some of the largest democracies in the world.”