"Failures are not just inevitable," writes Psychoanalyst Barry Magid, "but are a necessary part of the process. A good mother is not one whose baby never cries, but one who knows how to respond and soothe her crying baby."
It's true that failure provides us with learning that may pave the way for success, but when Magid says failure is "a necessary part of the process," he doesn't mean "the process of eventually succeeding." He means the process of just living, whether we ever achieve anything recognizable as "success" or not.
"The process," let us hope, is the process of growing more kind and more open -- braver, more loving, more compassionate. (You could call that a kind of success, but it's not usually what the word "success" evokes.) Failure doesn't inevitably do that. Sometimes it does just the opposite -- makes one bitter, fearful, resentful, alienated. Failure is a necessary part of the process of growing more compassionate -- but is not sufficient. As Pema Chodron says:
“We can let the circumstances of our lives harden us so that we become increasingly resentful and afraid, or we can let them soften us and make us kinder and more open to what scares us. We always have this choice.”Yours in faith,
Meredith
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ICYMI (In Case You Missed It)
The Nov 7 worship service, "Wholeness," is here:
See our channel for many other past services HERE.
BYDMI (Because You Did Miss It)
Time ran out at the Oct 31 worship service before I could share with you my Samhain reflection. I have posted the text on "The Liberal Pulpit." See: Samhain Reflection
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): 360,881
Highest since the June low (Aug 24-30): 660,156
Two weeks ago (Oct 29-Nov 4): 437,288
Last week (Nov 5-11): 477,860
This week (Nov 12-18): 513,157*
*Since Oct 17, new cases per day have increased 27% (an average increase of 0.8% per day for 32 days).
Average New Cases per Day, US:
Peak week (Jan 5-11): 255,931
Lowest since peak: (Jun 15-21): 11,955
Highest since the June low (Aug 27 - Sep 2): 167,508
Two weeks ago (Oct 29-Nov 4): 71,635
Last week (Nov 5-11): 78,529
This week (Nov 12-18): 88,364*
*Since Nov 3, new cases per day have increased 24% (an average increase of 1.5% per day for 15 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 (Oct 29-Nov 4): 73
Last week (Nov 5-11): 92
This week (Nov 12-18):
Deaths
Average Deaths per Day, worldwide:
Peak week (Jan 20-26): 14,818
Lowest since peak (Jun 29 - Jul 5): 7,696
Highest since the July low (Aug 19-25): 10,284
Two weeks ago (Oct 29-Nov 4): 6,901
Last week (Nov 5-11): 7,109
This week (Nov 12-18): 7,074*
*Deaths are up 6.3% over Oct 17 (an average increase of 0.2% per day for 32 days)
Average Deaths per Day, US:
Peak week (Jan 10-16): 3,543
Lowest since peak (Jun 30 - Jul 6): 247
Highest since the July low (Sep 17-23): 1,995
Two weeks ago (Oct 29-Nov 4): 1,172
Last week (Nov 5-11): 1,104
This week (Nov 12-18): 969*
*Down 52% since Sep 23 (an average rate of decline of 1.3% per day for 56 days)
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, and Oct 6-19): 0
Highest since May 22 (Sep 10-16): 9
Two weeks ago (Oct 29-Nov 4): 4
Last week (Nov 5-11): 3
This week (Nov 12-18):
Worldwide, new cases and deaths have been increasing for the last 3.5 weeks (25 days). The deaths have been growing more slowly than the new cases, which is partly due to a lag time. It may also be partly a result of the fatality rate falling very slightly among those who contract the disease -- though reporting incompleteness and inaccuracies may account for this appearance.
The U.S. new cases per day (7-day average) have been essentially flat for the last 3 weeks: swinging between 70.4K and 77.1K since Oct 21. Deaths, however, have been continuing to decline at a fairly steady rate for the last 7 weeks.
The US vaccination rate continues to slowly climb. As of Nov 9, 58.6% of the US population is fully vaccinated. The percent-fully-vaccinated has been growing at 1 percentage point every 21 days.
Meanwhile, the Westchester County fully-vaccinated rate is 70.9% (as of Nov 10) -- up 1 percentage point in the last 16 days.
Be careful out there!
Practice of the Week
[Check back later today] See also our SPIRITUAL PRACTICE DIRECTORY
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