2021-12-03

Minister's Post, Fri Dec 2

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ICYMI (In Case You Missed It)

The Nov 28 worship service, led by Adam Kent, "Sound Sense and Sensible Sound":



Covid Review

The Worldwide numbers are not reliable, and likely are greatly underestimating the actual prevalence of Covid-19. These numbers may nevertheless give us an indication of trends.

New Cases
Average New Cases per Day, worldwide:
Peak week (Apr 23-29): 828,613
Lowest since peak (Jun 15-21): 361,003
Highest since the June low (Aug 24-30): 660,604
Two weeks ago (Nov 12-18): 516,722
Last week (Nov 19-25): 565,343
This week (Nov 26-Dec 2): 586,941
*Since Oct 16, new cases per day have increased 45% (an average increase of 0.8% per day for 47 days).

Average New Cases per Day, US:
Peak week (Jan 5-11): 256,107
Lowest since peak: (Jun 15-21): 11,981
Highest since the June low (Aug 27 - Sep 2): 167,598
Two weeks ago (Nov 12-18): 90,978
Last week (Nov 19-25): 92,335
This week (Nov 26-Dec 2): 95,278
*Since Nov 2, new cases per day have increased 34% (an average increase of 1.0% per day for 30 days).

Average New Cases per Day, Westchester County, NY:
Highest week of 2020 (Mar 23-29): 949
Lowest week, post-peak, of 2020 (Aug 19-25): 29
Highest week of 2021 (Jan 6-12): 861
Lowest week of 2021 (Jun 17-23): 11
Highest since Jun low (Aug 15-21): 212
Two weeks ago (Nov 12-18): 134
Last week (Nov 19-25): 159
This week (Nov 26-Dec 2): 199
*New cases per day (as a moving 7-day average) are now 3.0 times what they were on Oct 24 (an average increase of 2.9% per day for 39 days).

Deaths
Average Deaths per Day, worldwide:
Peak week (Jan 21-27): 14,818
Lowest since peak (Jun 29 - Jul 5): 7,694
Highest since the July low (Aug 19-25): 10,313
Two weeks ago (Nov 12-18): 7,183
Last week (Nov 19-25): 7,142
This week (Nov 26-Dec 2): 7,003
For the last 58 days (Oct 5 - Dec 2), deaths have fluctuated between 6,660 and 7,272 per day.

Average Deaths per Day, US:
Peak week (Jan 10-16): 3,553
Lowest since peak (Jun 30 - Jul 6): 244
Highest since the July low (Sep 17-23): 2,008
Two weeks ago (Nov 12-18): 1,054
Last week (Nov 19-25): 1,018
This week (Nov 26-Dec 2): 961
For the last 20 days (Nov 12 - Dec 2), deaths have fluctuated between 848 and 1,102 per day.

TOTAL Deaths per WEEK, Westchester County, NY:
Highest week of 2020 (Apr 9-15): 365
Lowest week, post-peak, of 2020 (Sep 27 - Oct 3): 0
Highest week of 2021 (Jan 28 - Feb 3): 74
Lowest weeks of 2021 (Jun 16-22; Jun 28-Jul 14; Jul 18-27, Oct 6-19, and Nov 15-27): 0
Highest since May 22 (Sep 10-16): 9
Two weeks ago (Nov 12-18): 1
Last week (Nov 19-25): 0
This week (Nov 26-Dec 2): 2
In the last 32 days (Nov 1-Dec 2), Westchester County has seen 7 deaths from Covid -- or 1 death every 4.6 days.

The US fully-vaccinated rate reached 59.6% as of Dec 2. The last percentage point gain took 24 days. The percentage point before that took 20 days.

Meanwhile, the Westchester County fully-vaccinated rate is 72.0% (as of Dec 2) -- up 1 percentage point in the last 19 days. The percentage point before that took 17 days.

Winter is coming: be careful out there!

Practice of the Week

It’s time again for our Ecospiritual practice for this month – brought to you by Community UU’s Environmental Practices Social Justice Team: The Right to Live.

Imagine a logger 200 years ago coming upon a pristine forest. His thoughts are on the wealth he can get from these millions of board feet. Today we are more likely to consider creatures that might be endangered, and the value of forests for recreation and even as a carbon sink to sequester greenhouse gases. Yet our legal system today is hardly any better equipped than it was then to contemplate that the forest itself and its creatures have rights.

Thomas Berry says:
"So too every being has rights to be recognized and revered. Trees have tree rights, insects have insect rights, rivers have river rights, mountains have mountain rights. So too with the entire range of beings throughout the universe.”
The forest has a right to live out its patterns, to enact the script nature has written for it. It has earned this right by surviving, evolving unique adaptations, and creating a complex dynamic equilibrium.

The forest ecosystem and the critters in it, have rights – rights that obligate us to be cautious, take no more than we need to live, and approach the forests with reverence and humility.

Ecospiritual practices this month include a Namaste Practice, a Loving-Kindness Prayer, and Journaling about what the forest might say if it could speak. For the details on these, as well as group activities for your Ecospiritual group, see the post: "The Right to Live." See also our SPIRITUAL PRACTICE DIRECTORY

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