Anyway, the reason I'm waxing so religious today is that we took part in a worldwide day of fasting and prayer, to pray for relief from this pandemic and all its repercussions. I know that "faith and prayers" are kind of looked on these days as the thing people say they'll do as a way of saying they won't really do anything, but as a person of faith, I think there is power in prayer. And sometimes, especially in a situation like a global pandemic where I'm just an obscure translator who really can't do much to stop an invisible, microscopic enemy, prayer is the only thing we can do.
Now that I think of it, I suppose that's part of why, when you really need help from God, it's important to fast, too. Prayer is asking God for help, fasting is actually doing something. It's saying, "I care enough about this issue that I am going to go without food for an entire day," or however long you fast...but I imagine longer than a day could be too unhealthy. Anyway, the point is, it is something more than just praying.
And of course, this day of fasting and prayer is on Good Friday--the darkest day that preceded the ultimate return of the light. So I'm pretty hopeful that we'll beat this pandemic soon. Of course, I don't know how soon is soon, but in the meantime, I'll keep doing my part with the shelter-at-home and social distancing stuff, and continue to be optimistic!
Today I'm thankful for finishing our work quota (this volume of Hanako-kun was not as kind to us as previous ones), finally winning some Pokemon battles (today's set of battles started out pretty bleakly), getting to watch three episodes of Miraculous, one of those episodes being Glaciator, and getting to sleep in tomorrow.