Facemasks

To help bring the spirit of the holiday season I bought a black face mask with Christmas holly and berries at CVS. While I was there I also got a gray Thanksgiving mask with symbols of the holiday at a special sale price. Both masks are made of 3-Ply cotton/polyester with three layers of nano-silver. They have adjustable ear loops and an inner nose piece to prevent glasses from fogging. The FDA has authorized them as a source control to help prevent the virus spreading during the Covid19 pandemic.

With the purchase of my two face masks I now have seven. Like the masks that I bought at CVS, three of them are commercially made. Two were sent to me by one of my insurance companies and one I got at the hospital when I was there to see my doctor. There is a white one that Diane made out of an old T-shirt and a Purdue mask that a friend of mine made.

I have found it interesting how people have personalized the wearing of face masks during this Covid-19 Pandemic. Some have chosen to use their masks to show their support of their favorite athletic teams. There is a commercial on TV where a dentist is wearing a bright read IU mask. Others have used them to make a fashion statement. Business, organizations and products have discovered that face masks are a good way to advertise. We see fewer and fewer just plain hospital type masks.

It would seem that wearing a face mask in public will be a mandate into next year. We can respond to this mandate in a number of ways. We can spend our time complaining, arguing, and looking for ways to get around it. Or we can accept it as a fact to slow the virus spread and make the most of it. One way we can do this is by having some fun with choosing the face masks we wear. I have chosen to buy a holiday face mask at CVS as a way to help me celebrate the season. I can image all sorts of possibilities for a person might choose to have some fun or make a statement with one’s mask.

Paul had a knack for making the best of whatever situation in which he found himself. In his letter to the Philippians which was written from prison Paul says, “For I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little, and I know what is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Phil. 4:11b-13) In II Corinthians 11:24ff we find a litany of all the hardships that the Apostle has experienced. No matter what his situation he found reason to be content because of his faith in God.

There is an old saying that if someone gives you lemons, make lemonade. For the greater part of 2020 we have all been given many lemons. Each of us has had a choice of what we might do with them. We could have complained and done nothing. Or we could have accepted them and gone about the business of seeing what we might do with them.

Because of the pandemic mandate I have been wearing a face mask when I go out in public for almost ten months. I have been fortunate in that I can wear one without much discomfort. However, they do cause my nose to itch though! I have made lemonade of the situation by having some fun picking face masks to wear. I also find myself smiling as I see the face masks other people have chosen to make their lemonade.

How are you dealing with the lemons that you have been given?