First impressions of the photo below may suggest something like an old man who can’t walk without a cane and a mask to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. That’s certainly possible, but in this case, it would be incorrect. Let me explain.
The walking cane was made by my Dad in his retirement years, when he served as camp ground host at Oconee State Park in Walhalla, SC. It’s a treasured gift I would be reluctant to part company with. The mask – well, it is one of two I have and that I wear anytime I am in a public place. Because I’m in the at-risk age group and I have intensely protective children, I don’t wear it often – because I don’t go in public places often!
But you might be surprised at the relationship between the two in light of the utter nonsense you see regularly posted on social media by people who are, in their own words, “all about freedom.” Some of those people have advanced, terminal degrees from recognized universities – which might make one wonder how that could have happened!
The cane. One of the pluses of the quarantine has been that I am being much more disciplined about walking. In the past 30 days, I have reached and often exceeded the 10,000-step goal on 28 of those 30 days. My Apple Watch rings are circled almost every day in those 30 days. But I take the cane with me on walks.
Some of you are thinking, “He can’t make it the 10,000 steps without a cane to help him near the end.” But you’d be wrong. I take the cane because one of the streets on my normal walk has a home where a beautiful Collie is often outside without any constraints. The town where I live has a leash law; to let your dog run free is illegal. Occasionally, when I’m walking, the Collie comes running to the sidewalk – a public place – and challenges my right to walk on the sidewalk in front of his house. The walking cane gives me some confidence that I can keep the dog from biting me.
The mask. It isn’t exactly a law, in the sense that the leash law is, but people a whole lot smarter than I am have suggested that it is a good thing to wear a mask when in public places. The reasoning isn’t so much that it will protect you, but that it will protect others from you.
Personally, I hate the mask. It makes my glasses fog up. It sometimes feels like my breath is too hot to breathe in. I can even find an off-the-beaten-path doctor or two who say “masks are nonsense.” (All the while wishing they were as important in the pandemic as Dr. Fauci!) However, I don’t go in any public place without the mask – and again, my venturing into public places right now is pretty unusual.
Here’s why this picture makes sense. If the people I see posting on social media about the stupidity of masks had children or grandchildren walking down the street in my neighborhood where the Collie often runs loose, and the dog attacked their children or grandchildren, one of the tort lawyers who advertise on late-night television would have a new client.
But it is okay for them to walk in their local grocery store, convenience store, or any public place without a mask. All the while, they know that the potential is that they could be a carrier of the coronavirus, cough in public, infect me, and I could bring it home to my wife – who has gone through a year-plus of chemotherapy and radiation. But that’s okay: they have the “freedom” to not wear a mask!
They will instantly protest that the leash law is a law, and the mask recommendation is not an official law. They would be correct on that.
However, if you are a follower of Jesus, the idea of the common good for creation and its creatures isn’t determined by what some civil government says you must do by law, with the idea that otherwise, you are free to do whatever you want. If that’s how you see it, then you really have some issues with the nature of the Kingdom of God and what our mission is as the children of God.
God help us if, when this is all over, the people of God are known for keeping the laws of civil governments, but not for caring about the common good.
Wye Huxford 