Of Masks and Honor 😷🎭

Reasons why I’ll continue to wear a mask most of the time outside even though vaccinated:

• Both Philip and I have underlying health issues that weaken our immune systems, and we don’t want to take unnecessary risks.

• Two of our (fully-vaccinated) adult children also have autoimmune conditions, and it’s too early to tell how that might affect the efficacy of the immunization.

• Four of my grandchildren still are not old enough to be vaccinated, and I worry about the risks to them.

• I haven’t had an upper respiratory infection of any kind since March 2020, when masks first came into our every day lives. (That’s a big deal, because between 2016 and 2019, I came down with severe cases of late-season flu that lasted 10 days in one case and 15 in another.)

And, last but most important, the new guidelines rely heavily on the honor system…something that I’m almost (but not quite) chagrined to admit I haven’t always been good at. (Not quite chagrined because, you know, grace.) 

So permit me to share a personal story:

When I was a little girl in parochial school, I used to love going into the parish church after school to light a candle. I would dutifully put a tissue on my head (this was in the pre-Vatican II days, when head coverings were a must), put my nickel in the offering slot, and proceed to light a votive. Then I’d carefully look to one side and then the other and light as many candles as I could for my nickel. 

I failed the honor system at a young age. 

(This, I might add, is a genetic predisposition. One of my children, about the same age as I was during my compulsive candle-lighting period, was with me at a wedding rehearsal in a Roman Catholic church and did precisely the same thing, except the candles were of the electric kind.) 

I worry that the honor system will be put to a test even greater than a young child’s when it comes to masks. Especially since masks - and the pandemic itself - have become politicized, a further deepening of our cultural divide. 

Will there be folks who, unvaccinated, will unmask, even if it puts others (think: children) at risk? The reality of fake vaccination cards for sale already points to the fact that there are persons who are willing to bend any and all rules, even those that are intended for the well-being of all. Are there adults out there feeling free to still channel their honor code-breaking inner child, as long as they’re not caught?

We all want life to return to normalcy. We’re getting closer. But we’re not there yet. So I’ll keep wearing my mask for the foreseeable future. For you, for me, for those who remain vulnerable, for the love of neighbor that my faith proclaims.

Besides, I’ve got a really cool collection of musical theater-themed masks that haven’t outlived their usefulness by a long shot.

#OTD 2020

March 6, 2020 turned out to be my last regular day in the office where I have worked for almost 21 years, in a building in which I've worked and to which I've commuted daily since 1993. 

The following week was one to remember. On Sunday, March 8, I left for the airport immediately after worship to attend a three-day event in Tennessee. 

I was home for one day that week - Wednesday - before leaving Thursday morning, March 12, for another three-day event in Illinois. 

Returning home on Saturday, March 14, both my departure (O'Hare) and arrival (LaGuardia) airports were virtually empty. The anxiety among the few that were traveling was palpable.

The following day, I presided over worship, with five persons in attendance. That evening, we received news that my office would be closed starting Monday, March 16. With the exception of one day in July when I attended an onsite meeting, I have been working from home for almost a year. Our church services went virtual on March 22 and remained that way for four months; returning to in-person worship from late July until Christmas; then back online until we return to the sanctuary later this month.

OTD in 2020, I couldn't have imagined how much life would change. None of us could.

We started out by learning to make hand sanitizer at home. 

We baked. And cooked. 

We simplified, trying to stop agonizing over the inconsequential, and focusing more on what was truly important - the health and wellbeing of our loved ones scattered all over the country.

The April 2020 transatlantic cruise we had booked a year earlier was cancelled.

Once it was warm enough, we fixed up the back porch and started making other home repairs, knowing that we would be spending a lot of time here for the foreseeable future. 

After four full months of separation, we were finally able to bring Katie home for the weekend over the Independence Day holiday.

We lost a beloved elder in the family to the pandemic, and worried and prayed when other family members were diagnosed with the coronavirus. 

And throughout it all, Philip and I considered ourselves fortunate in comparison to so many. We have a home, food, a steady income, health insurance, and each other.

There is hope now. 

We have received the first dose of the vaccine, as have my 94-year old mother and three of our offspring who are educators. Katie, living in a group home, received both doses in Phase 1, the first among our family. Each day, more persons in our "older adult/elderly" age demographic are reporting having been vaccinated. 

But this pandemic is not yet behind us, and we can't say when it will be. One thing we can be certain of is that life will not go back to the way it was, even when we get past this. Nor should it. We can do better, be better.

May the breaking of old patterns and living into something new be the grace that moves us all toward a more compassionate and just future.

Stay safe and be well, Dear Ones. Love and blessings to you all.