You know, I’ve been thinking a lot about what freedom means to me and what it seems to mean to other people.

Please don’t cut me off right here because you see the masks. I just have an idea to share with you. I’m a nurse by profession. Trained in the scientific method and germ theory. Taught that if you don’t have anything better to do, wash your hands. And then HIV came along and gloves became mandatory when touching anything “wet” and not yours, and now even when touching skin. I learned to isolate certain infections, to dress wounds, to give medicines, and to assess patients and, sometimes, save lives.

Here’s the kicker for many of you: I believe COVID-19, the pandemic, is very real and very dangerous. Now, don’t turn me off yet. Please. I do have a thought to share.

I hear a lot about how being told to wear masks and social distance or stay at home is taking away personal freedom. We Americans don’t like to be told what to do, especially by the news media or the government. Please, just keep reading.

What if, just for a moment, you considered as a tool to evaluate behavior: what would Jesus do? You know wearing a cloth face covering or other mask (not an N95 mask) does not protect the WEARER from the virus. It only protects those the wearer comes in contact with. It is well known that some people with COVID have NO symptoms. While you are FEELING GOOD and shopping at Walmart or vacationing at the beach, eating at your favorite restaurant, or in a gathering with friends, or maybe in church or Bible study, you could unknowingly be exposing friends and strangers to the infection IF YOU ARE NOT WEARING A MASK. Many of those contacts might be particularly “at risk” of serious complications or death should they become infected because of age or other medical conditions. Some of them might simply take the infection home to children or elderly family members. The multi-system failure that children have had is real. The many COVID deaths are real. (Yes, I know the flu kills, too, but we have an immunization for that.) The potential pregnancy loss for a mother who becomes infected is real.

The COVID pandemic is not some conspiracy to steal your freedom or affect the outcome of a Presidential election. And I think, if Jesus were walking on this earth today in human form, he would, out of love and respect and mercy for us all, wear a mask.

Nope, it’s not fun. But we are adults and do a lot of things that aren’t fun. I hope that we are NOT so “grown-up” and self-centered that we forget the Golden Rule. I hope we ARE “grown-up” enough to respect and protect those we come in contact with.

I wear my mask in Walmart, as I teach Sunday School, and all day, everyday at work. I wear it when I go to various meetings. I do it to protect everyone that I come in contact with. I wish more people respected me and my family in the same way. And trust me, this is written with love and concern for everyone who has been and will be affected by the choices every person makes every day. Blessings.