I had a meltdown last night.
I made a rare stop at the grocery store to get a few things. I left angry.
About half the customers weren’t wearing masks which put me and others
at risk for contracting the Covid-19 virus. When I talked to the manager (yep!), she lamented it was a
corporate decision and although they had appealed to the union, they are still
in danger every day due to customers without masks. I posted on Facebook: “If you
don’t wear a mask at the grocery store, just unfriend me now.”
On Facebook, I was called “harsh” for rejecting friendships that
lack concern for others. It was labeled “not
cool” to draw a line in the [safety] sand.
Apparently, it is a “personal choice” to endanger others and I need to
respect that. Here’s what’s harsh and not
cool: not caring enough to consider how your individual actions impact the common good.
Maybe there is a very good reason for not wearing a mask, but I never
hear anyone explain beyond a simple preference.
Comfort, I guess?
My 91-year old mother lives with me and she has
emphysema and lung cancer. So, in this
time of quarantine, masks on others are critical. If I were to contract the virus and bring it
home to my mother, she would not survive.
Our homemade masks (thanks to our teen) minimally protect us from
contracting Covid-19 but primarily they protect others in the event we
are asymptomatic carriers. The science
is clear on this point: you can shed the virus even if you feel perfectly fine.
If you want excellent
information about how the virus is transmitted in stores, restaurants, etc. from
an expert - not a politician or a journalist - see the link at the end of this
post.
In addition to Costco making masks a requirement for entrance
to their stores, I learned that Whole Foods was asking all customers to wear
masks and providing them if you didn’t have one. Since we needed groceries, I set off for Whole
Foods. There were multiple safety
precautions and I saw only two customers without masks. And it was glorious.
It felt like love. It
felt like light. It felt holy.
Strangers with a message all over their faces: I see you.
Your safety matters. I am willing
to be uncomfortable to keep you well. We’re
in this together. It was holy.
I love the way Lutheran Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber describes
holiness. She says that holiness is the connection of things human and divine…the
coming together of things formerly set apart. Pastor Nadia is careful to reject the
dangerous theology that purity is the same thing as holiness: “holiness is about union with, and
purity is about separation from.”
This putting others above our own comfort is exactly what Jesus
was talking about when he said the most important laws were loving God and
loving neighbor. If we are to encounter
the holy, be in union with our fellow humans during this difficult time, then our
actions must foster safety and reduce risk.
Christina Baldwin, author of The Seven Whispers, says “the
purpose of life is not to maintain personal comfort; it’s to grow the soul.” My prayer is that this quarantine is growing
our souls in new and radical ways because our literal lives depend on it.
