Taking Off the Mask

by Dorothy Teague

There has been a lot of controversy over wearing or not wearing a mask during 2020-2021. Government leaders say it is the right thing to do to slow the spread of the dreaded virus. At this point, the general public is sick of wearing a mask. The complaints range from loss of personal freedom, too much governmental control, not being able to breathe, and the development of skin rashes and diseases. It is an on-going argument as to the positive versus the negative. The truth of our situation hit me hard one day, when I started to put on my mask for the hundredth time. We have all been wearing masks of our own making long before COVID.

Each morning, we pull out which “mask” we are going to wear for the situation we are facing. We wear the stern, no-nonsense, all business one when we step into the boardroom. We choose to put on the happy face mask when we attend social events, pretending all is right with our world. Our Sunday religious mask is for us Christians, pretending that we are not the sinners we really are. When we wear this mask, all the correct Christian code words spill from our lips so as to fit the mold of what people think we should be. We become so good at convincing others that we are righteous, we tend to fool ourselves too.

As Abraham Lincoln was quoted saying, “You can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time, but you can not fool all the people all of the time.”

With physical masks, we can not wear them 24/7 without taking a break. The same thing is true when it comes to the masks we put on metaphorically. We can’t keep up the act all the time. Even though we might fool people, we can’t fool God. He is El Roi, the God who sees (Genesis 16:13). He looks on the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). He sees us for who we really are, including our motives and our brokenness, and loves us anyway.

As the psalmist David said, “Where can I go from your

Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” (Psalm 139:7), we too cannot escape the all-seeing eye of God. We can’t wear a mask to hide from Him. Like David’s admission in Psalm 51:3, our sins are ever before us. The debate over physical masks will likely go on for a while, as will the wearing of emotional masks, simply because we all want to fit in. We all hide behind a mask at times to conceal our real selves. But there is One we cannot hide from because He loves us. We can be who we really are with Him, knowing He loves us in spite of our mistakes. Even though we can’t figure out who we should be or what we should do, He already has a plan laid out for us. All we need to do is lay the mask aside, trust Him, and walk in the way He leads us.

About The Author

Dorothy Teague is a Tennessee native, who resides in McMinn County with her husband, Lewis, on their farm. After completing 31.5 years as a teacher in the Bradley County School System, she is active in her church at Eastanallee Baptist Church where she is a member of the choir and praise team.