I put my ear to the earth and hear an undercurrent of grumbling spreading like gangrene across my town. Maybe the globe, I don’t know. And, personally, I have had quite enough, for one lifetime and even one day, of folks judging motives without asking. I have been guilty enough in my lifetime, as well. It’s our sinful, heinous nature that convinces us to judge others without even realizing that’s what we’ve done.
In this time of facebook gossip and tweeted complaints, where folks can justify blanket-judgments, rather than the holy act of addressing frustrations head-on with the source of their frustration, I feel the need to explain why exactly it is that I cannot, in good conscience, cover my face when I go out in public. Please, hold your interruptions and rebuttals. I am sure I just made some blood boil. That was not my intent.
Personally, I am fairly convinced that we are being led like sheep to slaughter, and the noose hung around our neck is fear. I am far more concerned about a society who has been programmed to stay isolated and live in dread of one another than I am of death or disease (and that’s not to say I don’t believe there’s a very real and sometimes deadly virus that we all need to be aware of and do our best to avoid).
When I see my dear friends and community members forging invisible boundaries between one another and covering half of their face, I am alarmed. When I see folks looking at those they would ordinary embrace, with terror filling their eyes, replacing the usual love, I am deeply concerned. I am fearful that Bill Gates (who by the way, predicted this very pandemic in a 2015 Ted Talk- look it up. It’s not a conspiracy if it’s built upon fact) may very well get his evil way, and turn our beloved world into a society of slaves, microchipped to be controlled, manipulated and “make everyone else feel safe” (just like the masks and 6 foot personal space bubble is supposed to be doing).
I do not judge those who wear a mask, because I understand there is a virus and they are only trying to be safe. When I go out in public, which is seldom these days, I dance around others, trying to allow for that personal bubble, so as not to heighten anyone’s fear, discomfort or danger.
Still, I would wholeheartedly appreciate the same honor. Please allow me the privilege of standing by my own convictions without being judged. I will not do anything intentionally to place another person in danger, yet to me, feeding the cycle of fear feels more endangering than not wearing a mask. So I have chosen what I deem safer of the two choices I am given.
Please know that my choice (and I would assume the choice of many others who also keep their faces showing), is not made in ignorance, or a lack of concern. I care more deeply than you can imagine. This is just my best attempt at doing so. Because I love this whole doggone world and I want us to be free!
Space 4/20/20
