Why should you wear a mask during the COVID-19 Pandemic?
One reason is that wearing a mask helps show our love for others. When we talk, sneeze, or cough, we project particles into the air many feet away from us. If you are sick, even if you don't know it, these particles can spread germs to other people. Wearing a mask works best by protecting those around us from getting sprayed with our particles. In a way, masks are really about protecting others.
In teachings like the Two Great Commandments and stories like the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus tells us that we are called to love others as ourselves. Jesus tells us this love is to be shared with our neighbor and our enemy alike. All of us, it is fair to say, want to be protected from a contagious, potentially fatal disease. Wearing a mask helps protect others from us. Really, wearing a mask means loving our neighbors as ourselves.
If we all commit to wearing masks over our nose and mouth in public, we will show each other that we care and want to protect one another. If everyone wears a mask and maintains 6 feet distance from others, we all will save lives together by curbing the spread of COVID-19.
As hard as it is, staying at home and away from others as much as possible is also a tool to prevent the spread of COVID-19. It is another way we can show our love to one another. We can continue to spread love, and not disease, by finding new ways to stay in touch with one another and check-in on each other's mental and spiritual health.
Wear a mask over both your nose and mouth and keep up your social distancing. It is a way to show the same love to one another that Jesus showed us.