Thoughts...

Endeavoring to keep up with overseeing schooling in two languages plus teaching a college-level course (involving remedial aspects and last-minute online adaptations) combined with limited internet access have all contributed to my having limited access to social media over the past four months. So, when posting my current profile picture almost a month ago, I had no idea that wearing face masks (or not) might actually imply some sort of political statement (although I had, of course, heard comments here and there about health-related pros and cons of wearing them).

“Who is that Masked (Little) Man?!”

In response to a friendly poll on how often I wore a mask, I replied that I do so “(Almost) always!” when in public and in the spirit of Romans, chapter 13, clarifying that masks are required here on public transportation, in supermarkets, and in some school settings, for instance. Conceding, for the sake of the argument, the potential lack of efficiency of masks, I observed that if my wearing a mask makes others feel better (even if that’s all it does), why wouldn’t I wear one when out and about, especially when doing so in my case (living in a relational culture) would be (as all my life really should be) a matter of Christian living?

Without hesitation, my 14-year-old, reading over my shoulder, commented: “To the masked I became as masked, if by any means I might win some...”

Yes! That’s exactly the (1 Corinthians, chapter 9) attitude I intend to communicate (even if breathing a greater concentration of my own CO2 is not in my own best interest). Deny my rights and liberties?! Yes... I personally know Somebody who gave up so much more for my ultimate good (Philippians, chapter 2), and His doing so involved death in my place on a cross...