In the beginning of the pandemic, the CDC said, “No, please don’t buy masks. The health care workers need them.” Then, we were told, “Okay, there are enough masks for you to purchase. You should wear them when out of your house.” Then we were told, “You must wear them outside of your house. In fact, some of you need to wear them inside of your house.” It is now fifteen months later. The CDC says, “Fully vaccinated people do not have to wear masks, indoors or outdoors, unless the state says otherwise.” The state says, “Wear masks where it is posted to wear them. Wait, we’re California, wear them.” I now may understand the political debate of a disease. Well, I sort of get it.
Masks. They have been a political debate on social media for the past fifteen months. I’m not debating them. I have cute ones that I buy at the bargain table at the Disney Store. Masks. We all wear them, whether we put them on physically or not, and most people are unaware how their masks have become ingrained in them and have become a part of who they are.
Characters in horror stories wear masks to hide their identity when they commit a crime. Then, when they take their masks off, they live a normal life. Their counterparts are superheroes. Some of our superheroes wear masks, especially when they are doing their jobs to save the world. I do like some superhero movies and television shows. I have noticed that with both groups, DC and Marvel, the superheroes that wear the masks want to hide their identity because they want to hide their power. We live in a society that wants us to hide our power and our identity. It’s strange because most people will tell you the opposite, but trust me, hiding is safer but not healthier or better for the whole of the community.
Safe. We all have lived a year of safety. We lived inside our homes. We went to work and school at home. We wore face masks when we left our homes and entered businesses. (In Los Angeles, it was mandated. For the rest of the country, you may not understand that.) A mask gives us safety to hide. I was able to hide my facial expressions, except for the occasional eyeroll. Masks allow us to hide our true identity and not allow others see who we really are. We hide behind our political pundits, our human spiritual leaders, news media, books, social media, television shows, and movies. Just like the superheroes and villains who wear masks who do not want their enemies to know their identity, we do not want people to see who we are because then they will see our true identity, and we are uncomfortable with people seeing the truth, both the good and the bad. The truth will set us free, even if we endure judgement.
Trust. We have been told to wear a mask not just because we can receive the virus, but because we can give it. If we think it’s not that bad to give it to someone else, we do not realize the damage that we do to others. When we have broken trust, we damage the people around us, and we do not always realize the damage that has been done. For the past year, we have had to go places and trust that people were not sick in the environment in which we were. The question begs to be asked if we can be trusted too. If people do not trust others to do the right thing, then they have a right to believe that when they see us, they do not trust us to do the right thing. We not only have to build trust for others, but to be trustworthy toward others.
Disease. We were told to wear a mask so we will not get a disease. Some people said that we were contaminating ourselves with the dirt in our masks. Yep, we wear masks to cover up the dirt in our lives. We look one way on the outside and our inner selves is full of greed, wrath, jealousy, and other sins. If people were to observe our sins, they would judge us. If people were to see our sins, they would gossip. The problem comes when we no longer see our own sins because of our masks and behave as if the sin is now an extra limb on our body not realizing that it is the damage that we are doing to ourselves and others around us.
Faith. Whether we wear a physical mask or not is not even close to the point. We need to tear off the masks that we hide behind to cover-up our sins and reveal to the world how we as imperfect Christians are redeemed by the blood of Jesus. We have to have faith in Jesus and the church that we can live a full life without the masks. It is without masks that we reveal the love of Jesus to others. Our masks may not be visible, but they are recognized. Many people can see when Christians are wearing a mask as they say one thing and do another.
Masks. We all wear them. Some people wear a mask of insecurity. Others wear a mask of fear. Some wear a mask of all of their agendas. Some wear a mask of knowledge. Some wear a mask of power. May we remove our masks and reveal our real identity, as the world is waiting for us to rise and be on the side of humanity. The world needs love, grace, mercy, and peace now more than ever. The only way we can share those qualities is when we are authentic in our faith and in our true identity. May we live a life without the invisible masks and reveal ourselves to others to reveal the love of Jesus.
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