October 2nd, 2020
Greetings! I believe we can all agree that these times are strange. Fear rules; along with quarantines and social distancing…words that previously had no direct meaning in our lives. How quickly everything has changed!
I have to admit that I really dislike wearing a mask. I do it, whenever I am around other people, but what I miss is not being able to see the expressions on people’s faces! So much of who I am (or was) depends on looking into eyes and sharing a smile. Oh, I still smile; but who sees, who knows? It feels like a crowd of robots, in a sense, faces covered, intent on completing the errands, and heading home, back to quarantine. I find it a bit disconcerting.
But it also makes me wonder if this is not a reflection of how we often reacted before all this no-contact, 6 feet apartness, began to surface? Did we really ever see each other? Now that we can’t, I regret the non-ability to communicate. I hope that when masks aren’t an order, that we will remember how important it is for our expressions to be read by others; that we show our hearts in our smiles.
You know, I still smile…behind my mask…and watch to see if others are smiling behind theirs? It will show, if it’s real, in the crinkling of our eyes. That’s what I watch for now. Because real joy can’t be hidden, even behind a mask, and I want my eyes to show the joy in my heart…even as I move my shopping cart 6 feet away!
I trust that even with all the inconvenience, the anxiety, the uncertainty, that each one of you will know in the depth of your heart that our God is still on the throne. His smile penetrates the dissonance of our concern for the future, and assures us of His loving faithfulness.