As many of you know, when heart patients are being examined, one of the first things they are given is a stress test. Never has anything been more aptly named. I know this from personal experience. Back when I turned 60, as a part of my routine annual physical, my doctor prescribed such a test for me. I went into it thinking, “Piece of cake; I’m in great shape.” I came out of it thinking, “I had no idea they were going to try to kill me.” The stress test does exactly what it says – it is designed to see how much stress a person’s heart can endure. That’s the only way physicians can determine the condition of a patient’s heart.

I learned a long time ago that in order to get along with others and “keep the peace,” there are certain topics that should always remain off limits. That’s because those topics tend to be so controversial that any discussion of them is more than likely to push people apart instead of bringing them close together. The two topics that come to mind, of course, are politics and religion because of how people are all over the map on their discussions of them.

One of the consequences of making do in the midst of a pandemic is doing your best not to make any glaring mistakes. Because none of us has ever traveled this particular path, we’re not able to draw from previous experience and plan accordingly. Some have likened it to building a plane and flying it at the same time, which is not an ideal plan.

Ever since COVID– 9 exploded on the scene with all its disruptive strength, we’ve seen adjustments forced upon us in every aspect of life. Businesses have shut down and reopened in a different way. Sports leagues suspended their seasons and some of them are only now resuming competition, but with a very different schedule. Who knows what will happen with schools and football as we move toward the fall? And of course, churches have had to alter their ministries in response to the novel coronavirus.

Years ago, I served a church in a community where the local newspaper had a section in each Sunday’s edition in which they printed public records. You could see who got married and who got divorced. You could see who bought property and who sold property. You could see who got arrested and for what reason they got arrested. And worst of all, at least in my mind, you could also see who had filed for bankruptcy.

The topic that’s been on everyone’s mind this week has been the reaction that has taken place across the country to what we can all agree was the senseless and tragic death of George Floyd on Monday a week ago in Minneapolis. The primary reason it’s been on ours is because of how the reaction spread to Birmingham, as on this past Sunday what began as a peaceful protest turned into an assault on downtown businesses and on members of the media who were there to report on the situation.