To Mask or Not To Mask... That is the Question

It's been a heavy time across our nation and world. I haven't shared my words with you since the beginning of April when we were a few weeks into a pandemic in the states and stay-at-home orders were in place here in Pittsburgh. The world had changed.

It's been a challenging time, as I continued to work as Operations Manager of Dignity Home Care Professionals, a senior in-home care company in Pittsburgh. My job was deemed essential so I continued on with the day-to-day business of providing caregivers to families in need. Sometimes, I ventured in to my lonely office in Bellevue and other times, I forwarded the phones and worked from home. We lost some clients (none from COVID-19) and we gained new ones. We kept our employees busy and we added new faces to the team. My heroes... those willing to brave the risk and offer their care to housebound elderly clients. 

It's been a sad time. The murder of George Floyd caused more than just rage and protest. It caused a deep sadness inside of me. It also awakened a need in me to push aside my comfortable silence and to speak out. I undoubtedly lost friends in the process, but that's okay. If you are a racist, you don't deserve my friendship. Not at all.

It's also been an infuriating and frustrating time. And this is the focus of this post: to mask or not to mask. It really shouldn't be a question. I continually hide 'friends' from my Facebook feed over this issue... those proudly proclaiming their "constitutional right" not to cover their faces. GIVE ME A BREAK! Those who take this stand continue to hide behind their excuses of "liberty." Sadly, most of the ones I've heard bemoan the masks also proclaim their status as "Christians." Again, give me a break. Where, pray tell, in Scripture does it instruct us to hold our rights and liberty above the good of others? Where? Show it to me. 

No, rather, the Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the church at Philippi: 

"Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others." (Phillipians 2:3-4 NASB)

Let me paraphrase: 

"Do nothing from selfishness or a desire for your own liberty, but humble yourself, realizing that you could be an asymptomatic carrier of COVID-19, which puts others at risk for a disease that, while it may be mild, could also KILL that person or cause lifelong problems for them."

As Christians, and, yes, I count myself as a devout follower of Christ, we have a moral obligation to do what we can to protect others from harm. Whether that means standing up for the rights of people of other races, seeking justice, socially distancing ourselves, fighting against the evils of Bayer/Monsanto and other companies who are poisoning us, or wearing a danged mask while in public and honoring the request of businesses and churches who ask this of us, that's what we have to do. It is NOT about liberty and constitutional rights... it's about kindness. It's "regarding one another as more important" than ourselves.

And for those of you buying into the myth of the dangers of breathing in your own CO2, read up on the facts. You would have to breathe in extremely high levels of the gas... more than say, a surgeon or their surgical team who are masked for hours during an operation -- how would you feel as a patient if they decided it was their "right" not to wear a mask?

I, personally, hate wearing masks. But, because I care about you, you better believe I'll be donning mine. I can only hope you care enough about me to do the same.

Sharing my heart,

A servant's heart

O the bliss of one

who identifies with 

and assists others in need --

who gets inside their skin

so completely

he sees with their eyes 

and thinks their thoughts

and feels with their feelings.

The one who does that will find 

that others do the same for him

when he is in need.

-- Charles R. Swindoll

The Gentle Art of a Servant's Heart