Dear Editor, Bristow is in a hospital crisis. We need to band together to make certain we don't join the growing list of communities where hospitals have shut their doors, never to reopen.

Years ago a young singer, Jim Stafford, penned the song “I Don’t Like Spiders and Snakes.” Almost everyone was able to relate to that idea. Many more are afraid of the dark, others are afraid of height, some are scared at the thought of speaking to a large crowd of people. So, you’re afraid of what?

Back in the ancient days of Fred Flintstone and no cell phones, when he was a young dad and a wet-behind-theears pastor, Andy had a habit. No, not a habit like we refer to today. But he unconsciously used a certain phrase – constantly.

Coping with loss during the holidays is very difficult. Maybe you have had a loss of a loved one, friend, pet, job, marriage, or any other type of loss. Well, I have too. I have had many losses, and the holidays always seem to be so much more difficult to deal with after any type of loss. You are permitted to enjoy them if you give yourself permission to enjoy. There should be no guilt attached to enjoying yourself. Give yourself this gift. Please reflect on these seven thoughts each day in this upcoming week just to prepare yourself as the holidays roll towards us.

Dear Editor, Last Christmas Eve I was looking for a Christmas Eve church service. Presently I do not belong to a church in Bristow.

January 2020 gave no indication just how rough a ride it was going to get for everyone on this planet. We had fairlyrun-of-the-mill problems and successes the first couple of months. Little did we innocents suspect what was just around the corner - come March. But now it’s nine months later and we are a whole bunch wiser.

Hosting or attending a holiday event after losing a loved usually can initiate a controversial conversation. Some encourage this and some frown upon the idea. Recently, a patient family loved one called distraught over a family member's chastisement resulting from a planned holiday celebration because she lost her husband only three months ago.

What will America look like in ten years? Twenty years? What would you want to see for our country during the remainder of your life and, perhaps, beyond the end of your life? For your children? For your grandchildren?

Oklahoma set a record for COVID-19 hospitalizations last week, and the United States reached a grim milestone of more than 250,000 coronavirus deaths. After earlier surges in the spring and summer, the country is now in the midst of the feared fall coronavirus surge and we’re peering into the darkness that winter will bring. With more than 1,500 Oklahomans now hospitalized and new positive cases averaging more than 2,600 per day, it’s time for Oklahoma to act.

It would be easy enough simply to wring our hands over the political divisiveness in America today and move on. Heaven knows, most members of Congress are perfectly willing to follow that path, saluting their political parties first and standing for America only when it’s convenient.