I am serious!  How does it make you feel to be classified as ‘non-essential’ which is another way of saying ‘unimportant’?  Remember back to the playground when you were in school and the choosing sides for whatever game you were about to engage.  If you were one of the ones picked last or not picked, how did that make you feel?  I was fortunate when it came to sports that I had enough athletic ability that I was usually chosen early in the selection process.  However, there were a few events when I was excluded, and it was incredibly demoralizing.  My peers deemed me ‘unimportant’ and that made me feel ‘unwanted’ and had I embraced that rejection I would have been damaged emotionally long-term. 

I am thankful that I had parents and family that helped me reject the feelings of rejection.  My mother was especially gifted at instilling in me a sense of worth, value, and ability.  She never took a course in psychology or child-rearing, but she was a master at boosting my personal image and that was invaluable. 

I recall a time in elementary school when, for whatever reason, I did badly on a test designed to determine intelligence and aptitude.  I made good grades in school and the scores did not reflect my ability, as was proven over time.  However, the Principal that brought the results to the class openly chided me and laughed at me before the class.  He asked, “Beaird, can you even spell your own name?”  That did two things.  It made me angry and it built a fire in me to never allow that to happen again.  As would be expected, his action caused some to take up the chant, but others knew better and were embarrassed for me. 

Today, in the lockdown we have endured edicts issued by the federal and state governments dividing America into two classes – essential and non-essential.  Intentionally or unintentionally that conveyed a message to both classes of workers.  That message was that some were valuable and even heroes for what they did, and the others were so unimportant that any complaints made them sniveling cowards and need to be silenced.  You may not see it that way, but many have even if they have not voiced those feelings.

We have endured a situation where police have literally pulled over motorist demanding to know why they were not at home.  If you did not possess your letter certificating that you were essential, you could be fined or jailed for your disobedience to the demands of Big Brother.  Is that America? 

Remember the movie Schindler’s List?  I recall the scene where a one-armed man personally thanked Schindler for giving him a job as a machine operator performing a function that was deemed essential to the war effort.  He said, “The SS beat me up and would have killed me, but I am essential to the war effort.”  Is that America?

Essential?  Is your income essential to you and your family?  Is your property essential to you and your family?  Is providing for your own essential to you and your family?  We have over 36 million Americans who fall into the ‘non-essential’ category of the chaste system created by COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.  The attitude of many in government, the media (often very unessential), and the elitists is that if those deemed ‘non-essential’ want to be counted they are ungrateful complainers and disregarded.  After all, saving one life from the virus is more important than saving millions from financial destruction, right? 

Safe was deemed more important than Life to those making the decisions about the dangers and requirements in handling this pandemic.  Of course, those making the decisions have been unaffected by the destruction of the ‘non-essential’ classification.  They continued to draw their paychecks and were free to do what they chose.  They have the best medical care known to man and our plight never darkens their door or their minds.  Yes, I may be overstating how they feel but that is how it comes across to the millions deemed ‘valueless’.

The social media ‘fact-checkers’ can stay safe and still prevent us from speaking our minds if it does not fit the rhetoric of the globalist on the Left.  The Leftists have insisted that it is unsafe to vote in public but safe to go to Walmart and riot in the streets burning and looting.  Abortion clinics were ‘essential’ but churches ‘non-essential.’  Is this America?

I have become more concerned about the fear and paranoia that has been and is being engendered in this than the virus itself.  Please do not assume that I am suggesting it was and is not serious and even deadly, in some cases.  I am concerned that the politicization of this using it as a weapon to sway an election is endangering our Republican Form of Government and rendering our Constitution meaningless.  I am concerned about the psychological damage that is being inflicted will produce incredible dire consequences in the months and years to come.  I am concerned about the long-term. 

When I research the statistical data that reveals the mortality rate of this virus is no more or possibly less than the seasonal flu and other viruses that we have endured, I wonder.  When people see and hear those statistical reports and are told that their lives were destroyed because of this virus, they wonder.  When you realize that the virus has not been the massive catastrophic killer than we were told it would be but to protect from it millions are ‘non-essential’ and collateral damage justified.  What does that do in their hearts and minds? 

If you reach a point you no longer believe what the ‘experts’ are telling you, but you continue to suffer the mandate as you watch your life be stripped from you, how does that make you feel?  I suggest that one of the eventual emotions will be anger.  That anger will become a seething caldron that could and possibly will erupt into a massive outburst that will disrupt everything in America.  What am I describing?  A civil disturbance that could become a Civil War and an attempted overthrow of the government seeking to reclaim the lost or perceived lost freedom.  Toss in the rioting and you have a recipe for total chaos and anarchy. No Republic can survive that situation if it is allowed to grow unimpeded.

I call upon every American and citizen of the world who is a Christian to commit to intercessory prayer.  We must pray for a change of mind not just a change of laws.  We must prevent those who want to destroy our liberties and freedoms from gaining total power.  We must reject the tyranny that is being given life during this pandemic.  We must determine that ALL LIVES ARE ESSENTIAL to God and therefore must be fought for.  Life is more than physical safety it embodies the entire spectrum of our existence.  We live in a body, have a soul, and are a spirit.  We need God! 

God bless you and God bless America!