Did I hear that right? WBBM News Radio from Chicago ran a piece this morning on COVID-19's fall out in the Windy City. Turns out that with so many bars and restaurants empty during this lockout, the rodents used to feeding off the garbage in the back alley have hit the road in search of new food sources, such as residential domiciles. We're talking rats! Says Robert Villamil, owner of Crow Pest Control: "'Rats are wild and are looking for food and trying to survive'" (abc7chicago.com/amp/coronavirus-rats-chicago-rat-warning-cdc/6213457). Turns out the Centers for Disease Control is warning now of "'unusual or aggressive rodent behavior'" from rats starved out of their usual haunts in big cities (ibid). Moral of the story–like rats, sin feeds on garbage kept "out back"–get rid of the garbage if you don't want the rat feasting off of you! 

And did you hear about the new app developed by Apple and Google? Twenty-two countries and some US states have requested the use of their new technology. The Swiss COVID app enables "automated contact tracing ... using smartphones to detect when two people are close enough to each other for long enough that there is significant risk of contagion, so that one can be warned if the other is later diagnosed with having the disease" (bbc.com). Moral of the story–your mother was right, "birds of a feather flock together," so beware of who it is you're getting close to⁠–they may be wearing more than enticing perfume!

And finally, this afternoon, if all goes according to schedule, a towering SpaceX rocket will lift off from Cape Canaveral, Florida–destination: the International Space Station. Strapped inside the command module will be NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, both repeat visitors to outer space. This "will mark the first time in history that a commercial aerospace company has carried humans into Earth's orbit" (amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/05/26/tech/spacex-nasa-launch-may-27-scn/index.html). And after a decade, this also "will usher in the return of human spaceflight to US soil" (ibid). Turns out the astronauts out there will be in a healthier domain than their Earth home, now contaminated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Moral of the story–you may never become an astronaut, but the day is coming when humans will blast off from this Earth on a fiery cloud to a pure and uncontaminated atmosphere and land called Heaven–they are taking reservations as we speak!

Three simple stories–one connecting truth–all about Jesus. Having willingly sacrificed His life (forever) to love you and me back to Him, He is the one Being who is (1) a Master at both moral pest and garbage control (with our permission, of course); (2) a Specialist at protective social distancing when the contagion is sin and not a virus; and (3) the Agent in charge of all one-way traffic to Paradise, reservations required. What a Savior, what a Friend.

Reminds me of a song we sing. Why don't you hum along as we read the words together: "Hallelujah! what a Savior! Hallelujah! what a Friend! Saving, helping, keeping, loving, He is with me to the end" ("Jesus, What a Friend for Sinners"  No. 187 Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal).