Wearing Masks
I'm not sure why, but wearing a mask has been a trial for me. One day, while asking for help at a retail store, I couldn't hear what the young associate was saying to me. Finally, I joked, "I'm sorry, I can't hear you, I'm wearing a mask!" He looked at me funny for a minute and then it registered and he laughed. Another older woman nearby overheard me and said, "Me too!"
After thinking about the struggle I was having communicating with others, while we were all wearing masks, I realized much of communication is reading another person's facial expressions. I also, have discovered that I read lips in noisy environments and that is out of the question now. My reading glasses fog up when I wear the mask and try to look at prices and directions on items at the store as well. So not only don't I "hear" well, I can't "see" either when wearing a mask! By the time I get home, sanitize myself and change out of my COVID clothes and shoes, I'm worn-out. Wearing masks has really taken the fun out of shopping!
The Message bible interprets 2 Corinthians 4:2 as follows, "We refuse to wear masks and play games. We don't maneuver and manipulate behind the scenes. And we don't twist God's Word to suit ourselves. Rather, we keep everything we do and say out in the open, the whole truth on display, so that those who want to can see and judge for themselves in the presence of God." Living with full disclosure is simply easier. Some of you may have heard a parent tell you, "Once you start lying you won't know the truth from a lie and you won't be able to cover your tracks, since you will no longer know right from wrong."
It is interesting to compare The Message version of 2 Corinthians 4:2 to the New International Version, "Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not us deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God." But verses 3-6 help shine more light on the topic of masks/veils, "And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ."
All this is to say, as Christians, we must remember our focus should not be on our own discomfort or inconvenience, but rather on being "servants for Jesus' sake." In spite of our face coverings, we are called by God to let "his light shine in our hearts" and display "the face of Christ" to those around us. I don't know about you, but I need to lift the veil on my pandemic pity party and display more of Christ and less of me in my daily interactions with others.
After thinking about the struggle I was having communicating with others, while we were all wearing masks, I realized much of communication is reading another person's facial expressions. I also, have discovered that I read lips in noisy environments and that is out of the question now. My reading glasses fog up when I wear the mask and try to look at prices and directions on items at the store as well. So not only don't I "hear" well, I can't "see" either when wearing a mask! By the time I get home, sanitize myself and change out of my COVID clothes and shoes, I'm worn-out. Wearing masks has really taken the fun out of shopping!
The Message bible interprets 2 Corinthians 4:2 as follows, "We refuse to wear masks and play games. We don't maneuver and manipulate behind the scenes. And we don't twist God's Word to suit ourselves. Rather, we keep everything we do and say out in the open, the whole truth on display, so that those who want to can see and judge for themselves in the presence of God." Living with full disclosure is simply easier. Some of you may have heard a parent tell you, "Once you start lying you won't know the truth from a lie and you won't be able to cover your tracks, since you will no longer know right from wrong."
It is interesting to compare The Message version of 2 Corinthians 4:2 to the New International Version, "Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not us deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God." But verses 3-6 help shine more light on the topic of masks/veils, "And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ."
All this is to say, as Christians, we must remember our focus should not be on our own discomfort or inconvenience, but rather on being "servants for Jesus' sake." In spite of our face coverings, we are called by God to let "his light shine in our hearts" and display "the face of Christ" to those around us. I don't know about you, but I need to lift the veil on my pandemic pity party and display more of Christ and less of me in my daily interactions with others.
2 Corinthians 4:1
Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.
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