[ Editor’s Note: Not gonna lie… It really seems like a lot of folks are basically daring the virus to kill them]

The 2020 Olympics are over, and they have been a great example of what fellowship can achieve, even though they should have been cancelled due to the COVID pandemic. There have been some great performances and numerous records broken but the highlight of the two weeks was surely the joint gold result of Italy's Gianmarco Tamberi and Mutaz Barshim of Qatar. They could have continued on until there was a single winner but their decision to share the victory rather than depriving the other person showed an attitude that the world needs to see more of.

So many of the world's countries are battling COVID and although many are sharing resources some are still in dire circumstances. This is one time when the world needs to be one world and only then will we earn our gold prize of freedom from the epidemic.

[ Editor’s Note: I’ve heard the ratings were way down this time around but I personally watched more Olympics this year than any other time I can remember.

The best part for me was me and my kids sitting around on our lazy butts critiquing the performances of these world- class athletes (“ Look at that splash!” “ She didn’t stick that landing!” “ He didn’t even try to adjust for the wind!”) and trying to figure out the rules to sports we absolutely did not understand, like Judo and Surfing. Of course, if there was an American in the game, we were all like “ USA! USA! USA!”]

*** It’s close. COVID is mutating its way to becoming immune to the COVID vaccine. Any vaccine.

Vaccinated people are winning the race today, barely, but an uncontrollable COVID variant is breathing down their necks. From the brain freezing din of scientific arguments to get the vaccine, which my wife and I did in April, came the words of one scientist that burned their way into my memory. “We’re just three variants away from having no immunity from the COVID contagion.” Just three variants. Vaccine or no vaccine. The unvaccinated are to blame. COVID thrives on the most vulnerable among us, the unvaccinated. More than 90% of infected victims today are the most uncaring, meanspirited among us, the unvaccinated. New variants evolve from continued spreading, continued adapting, continued hosting from the most belligerent indifferent among us, the unvaccinated. It’s hard enough to fight and ultimately win a war against an invisible, death-determined enemy, but it’s a losing battle when all the good you’ve done and all the sacrifices you’ve suffered are being destroyed by friendly fire.

So here we are. Just standing here doing nothing.

Fiddling.