The headline in a newspaper (not this one) screamed in block caps, âDrastic Action to Halt Epidemic: Schools and Theaters Closed and Public Gatherings Prohibited.â The year was 1918, and that Christmas Day was grim by any standard. There was an eventual total of some 675,000 deaths from the pandemic flu.
But this Christmas Day, in spite of our losses, we also have hopes and options that those almost a century before us lacked. We turn now to our informal panel of pastors. One of whom has been preaching pre-Christmas sermons from under a spreading oak tree.
That would be the Rev. Jerry B. Lee Jr. of Texas Cityâs Greater Bell Zion Missionary Baptist Church.