What Did the Ancients Do in Times of Crisis?

Children of Israel complained to Moses that they were dying from "wretched food" and lack of water during their escape from Egypt. A doctor, asked on the "Today" show March 31, 2020, how she was able to come into the hospital to face a long strenuous shift every day said, "I pray."

     Besides praying to a god in general, Saints Jude and Rita, known as patrons of the impossible, are a special option. Of course, God may respond, you got your answer, the answer is "No" or "Not now." Those also are familiar responses from a "Magic 8 Ball" and the conch shell SpongeBob and Squidward consult.

     Prayer is a request. Sometimes we don't like the answer. There's always a chance we might be asking for the wrong thing, for something that will be provided later, or for some need we can satisfy ourselves or by asking someone on Earth.

     Prayer can require persistence. Those who recognize St. Augustine as a 4th century Catholic bishop and renowned scholar, known as a doctor of the church, may not know his mother, St. Monica, spent at least 17 years praying for his conversion.

     A few times, the Virgin Mary, known as the mother of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has appeared on Earth pleading for prayer and penance to prevent suffering. At Fatima, Portugal, in 1917,  she came to three children and told them World War I would end but another world war would follow if atheistic Communism and the persecution of Christians continued. She asked that Russia be consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, just as the United States is. As evidence of her appearance and message, a sign occurred. The sun dropped and nearly touched the Earth where about 70,000 people assembled in and near a small Portuguese grotto on October 13, 1917. "The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima," a 1952 feature film dramatizing the entire 1917 experience, is still available.

     Russia has not been consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and Russia and the United States have been enemies ever since the end of World War II. President Ronald Reagan branded the godless totalitarian Soviet regime a threat to "freedom for all mankind." To illustrate Communism's misguided notions, President Reagan, according to Dr. Richard Brookhiser's new book, GIVE ME LIBERTY, used to quote WITNESS, the memoir by Whitaker Chambers, a U.S. journalist and Soviet spy who looked at his baby daughter's intricately formed ear and began to doubt chance caused atoms to come together to create everything in nature.

     For those who recognize God, prayer need not be long or complex. Just ask, "Please help us."

Back to the Fashion Future

Want to wear the latest fashion? Head to Pyongyang or Tbilisi.

 Back in 1970, when composer Lenny Bernstein hosted an Upper East Side New York City gathering of guests invited from high society and the leather-clad Black Panther U.S. revolutionaries, recently deceased author, Tom Wolfe, termed the unconventional party mix, RADICAL CHIC. "Radical Chic" could resurface with a new application to the back-to-the-future fashionistas strutting streets in Pyongyang and the former Soviet Republic of Georgia.

The couple who skated for North Korea in the Winter Olympics wore outfits indistinguishable from those worn by contestants from other countries. At home in Pyongyang, women who enjoy the perks of close association with Kim Jong Un's government also find tailors with pre-communist roots who are willing to stitch up unique designs, sometimes from customer sketches, unlike the dark, loose fitting clothes available for the masses. Rather than local fabrics, the fashion savvy even look for clothes made from Chinese and, occasionally, Western textiles.

Over in Tbilisi, the latest fashion is a downscale look. Georgians discovered Demna Gvasalia, a local designer who made good when he escaped and set up a fashion house, Vetements, in Zurich, Switzerland. Other local designers followed his lead, but stayed at home. Just as North Korea's communist style clothing is boring, before the collapse of the Soviet Union and the local "fashion" industry in Georgia, the dominant look also was dull and drab. The current trend may not be drab, but it is basic, jeans, T-shirts, tote bags, and the like, at couture prices.

What makes Georgia's everyday items worth the price is their rare origin from a place only jet setters have the funds and time to visit. For the same reason, North Korea's new headlines might motivate the fashion oneupsmanship that attracts wealthy tourists who have been everywhere else in the world.