I have had a brutal three weeks. The day after I left Minnesota, I started developing viral symptoms that turned out to be Covid – my third bout. Not to worry, I start an Ivermectin regimen as soon as I get a cough (the best anti-viral ever…no wonder it won a Nobel Prize!). The symptoms were muted, but still difficult. My recovery seemed unreasonably slow, so midway through the second week, I got some medical advice from a source I trust. He recommended I add the simple over the counter medication, Benadryl, to my regimen. Worked like a charm. I started improving noticeably each day. By Sunday, I was able to get to Mass for the first time in two weeks. I went Monday and then Tuesday, as well. Felt a little funky on Tuesday, but okay.
Then on Wednesday, I got genuinely scared. I feared I was having a slow-motion stroke. I had been oddly fatigued even on my recovery days, but on Wednesday my head felt the pressure of being all stuffed up without being stuffed up at all. Without losing peripheral vision, it nonetheless felt like I was looking through a tunnel. Dizziness and nausea were among the other symptoms. With no little nervousness, I went back to my source. Turns out I have a mild allergy to antihistamines…but take three Benadryl a day for a week and the allergy turns ugly – and mimics some of the symptoms of a stroke. I was advised it would take a few days to get it out of my system, but to stop immediately. By Friday, the pressure in my head was small and I was no longer looking through a tunnel…it just felt like I was watching an old-fashioned TV with the bright setting way too high. I have been getting significantly better each day as it gets out of my system.
So why tell you this? For a year and a half beginning in April of 2020, I spent at least an hour and a half each day researching Covid and various approaches to it. I am not a doctor, but I am a top-notch researcher – a fact that was acknowledged by both Republicans and Democrats in Congress from the mid-90’s through the first decade of this century. I occasionally had Democrats quietly ask me for assessments of the likely long-term consequences of various legislative initiatives. There was a group of Congressman who contacted me the day before Russia invaded Crimea to get my take on the likelihood. Barack Obama was assuring them it would never happen. I told them it would, of course, happen – for the same reason we would have to take San Diego back if it were ever lost and there was any danger at all we would lose our premier warm water naval port. I was right, Obama was wrong. After the invasion, the same group called to get a long-term assessment. Once again, I was right, Obama was wrong. There may have been a Democrat or two in that group. If so, it was the last time one sought my advice.
The point is that when doing serious analytical research, I ruthlessly attack my own conclusions until I am satisfied that the final conclusion I come to is near unassailable with existing available information, including historical data. With approaches to Covid, my primary rule was what used to be that of the medical profession: Do no harm. The medical profession was doing a lot of harm, both by suppressing Ivermectin and Hydroxycholoroquine and by pushing an untested gene therapy shot that had almost universally bad results when tested on animals – and deceptively calling it a “vaccine.”
But we had people on our side that, in their panic, were equally irresponsible in recommending exotic therapies that may or may not have helped with Covid, but did have terrible side effects that could cause serious damage to internal organs and the blood stream. I would not push those even as enthusiasts for whatever comes along frantically told me I was letting people die. I DID strongly urge the use of Ivermectin and Hydroxy because they were both effective and had almost no side effects, even at excessive doses. Do no harm – and don’t be reactionary, stumbling like a drunk into the right wall in order to avoid the left. The fact is that those societies which have exclusively used Ivermectin or Hydroxy have had a flat line on Covid infections and deaths – and have not had the massive spike in excess all-cause deaths all the countries that relied on the gene-therapy shot have suffered.
If, when doing serious research, you do not ruthlessly attack your own assumptions and early conclusions, you are NOT an analyst. At best, you are a glib partisan – and you are probably an idiot adding to the confusion rather than helping lift it.
This is important because we have a LOT of trials ahead. If you act in panic or partial, polemic knowledge you are going to have a very hard time. If you are honest and rigorous, you are going to find that a lot of things are not as you thought. If you maintain a low profile on a particular subject until you know what you are talking about, you will not often make a fool of yourself – and your conclusions will stand the test of examination and time. If you have influence over a lot of people, you have an absolute duty to them not to go flying off the handle or half-cocked…and take the heat when you have to tell them something they don’t want to hear.
I loathe people who cockily assure me that they “know the real score.” Most of them are partisan idiots who don’t have a clue and are just jockeying to be king of the hill for a day or two, regardless of whether it helps others or not.
We have serious and brutally difficult work ahead of us. I call on those who frequent this site to be leaders among their circles. To do that in a way pleasing to God you must not flap around in raw panic or give yourself over to comforting fantasies. Judge righteous judgment, for that is what you will be judged by. Do no harm. People are counting on you – and God is watching.
When even innocuous, over-the-counter medications can have significant, unintended side effects, imagine how culpable you will be if you push things that have easily discernable bad effects – and you didn’t bother to look further than what you wanted to believe or, even worse, knew and ignored the evidence to fit your narrative. No matter how rigorous you are, you will err sometimes. To minimize that, keep in mind that truth will stand the test of examination. Start by examining yourself ruthlessly. When you do err, acknowledge it as soon as you know and waste no time trying to justify your error. I know, easier said than done – as I know from my own experience – but failure to consciously adopt rigor means you will quickly degenerate into a useless, prickly crank. These are times that call for serious, sober people. Answer God’s call and put away vain, childish things.
(P.S. My sister noted that it is just like me that I would be fine with pollen and weird mushrooms, but am allergic to allergy medicine. My son once noted, while watching the fox that would always come visit and eat hot dogs with me at a cabin I went to, that I was perfectly normal until you took a closer look. I looked just like a man with his pet dog…until you came closer and saw my pet was no dog. Ah, well, I guess I am determined to be someone’s most memorable character!)
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My ninth grandchild was born a week ago, on July 22. She is Clare Joan – and I pray she lives up to her name. I only had two kids, myself. But, by gum, they have been fruitful for me! Onward Christian Soldiers!
If communication goes out for any length of time, meet outside your local Church at 9 a.m. on Saturday mornings. Tell friends at Church now in case you can’t then. CORAC teams will be out looking for people to gather in and work with.
Find me on Twitter at @JohnstonPilgrim
The Corps of Renewal and Charity (CORAC)
18208 Preston Rd., Ste. D9-552
Dallas, Texas 75252
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