Five weeks ago, I came down with a case of Shingles.  If you are not sure what that is, here is a brief description from WebMD.com: “Shingles is a rash with shooting pain. It usually shows up on one side of your body” and is caused by the Chickenpox virus which lays dormant near your spinal cord or the base of your brain for decades until it decides to “wake up” one day in the form of Shingles.[i]  One in three adults who have had Chickenpox as a child will develop Shingles in later years.  Shingles is extremely painful and can last up to six weeks.  In my case, it broke out on the right side of my neck and head.  Thus, there were many nights when I would simply lie in bed medicated on one prescription pain med and two different over-the-counter pain meds with an ice pack on my head whimpering in pain.  It was brutal to say the least.  And as if that were not enough, where the Shingles broke out infected the nerve which runs through my right inner ear which then spreads out across the right side of my face.  The result is what is called Ramsay Hunt syndrome (RHS).  In short, paralysis to the right side of my face making it difficult to eat, drink or speak and impossible to blink my right eye.  Thus, I am forced to wear an eye patch from time to time, especially when I sleep, and I have not been able to carry out my weekly preaching responsibilities at my church.  It was a frightening thing to wake up in the middle of the night and suddenly not be able to move the right side of my face.  I first thought I was having a stroke.  What is worse, no one knows how long the RHS will last.  It could last several weeks to several months.  Ten percent of patients experience some degree of lifelong paralysis. 

​This presidential election is proving to be one of the most difficult and challenging elections in recent history.  On the one hand there is Joe Biden, an avowed pro-abortion candidate, who seems more presidential, courteous, and civil, and on the other hand there is President Trump, a president who drops the F-bomb on national radio, who has openly bragged about groping women before going into public office, who has a tendency to be rude and crude.