“I do not accept that diagnosis.”  Her words rang in my ears across the Messenger phone call. We were talking about her medical appointment, and this was her response to one medical diagnosis that she disagreed with. “I will not let it define me,” she said.

I realize that declaring your medical diagnosis as “fake news” is a form of hiding your head in the sand and won’t change anything if you indeed have diabetes or heart disease or HIV, but I also loved the bravery behind her words.

The amount of negativity and stereotyping we face today is overwhelming. From all sides we are labeled and diagnosed and constantly told that we are “less than.” Instagram highlights our lack of artistic ability; Facebook makes it appear that everyone else is having more fun; LinkedIn gives us a peak into how others are better connected. Our own community may discriminate against us on the basis of race, sex, age, gender, orientation. We see terrors on every side. Right now many of us are grieving the loss of a career, an income, a future.

“I do not accept that diagnosis.” I will stand up and declare who I am. I am worthy. I am loved by God. I have value. I have purpose. I will realize that I am part of the sharing kingdom of God, and I will live every day accepting that mission. I will not accept the diagnosis that I have to live in fear and darkness, that I have to live selfishly to protect myself, and that I have to put others down in order to value myself. I am defined by the God of Heaven.
 
“So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, ‘Abba, Father’” (Romans 8:15 NLT).
 
“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (I John 3:1 NIV).

I’ve never really worn a mask before. Never been invited to a masked party, never worked in a medical or industrial field that required a mask. I’ve always felt that decorative or cultural masks were a little creepy—and stuffy.
So it is with some horror that I’m scrolling through patterns on how to make a surgical-type mask to protect myself and my loved ones from the coronavirus. I’m reading technical graphs on which type of fabric best screens out the virus, and whether I should double or triple the material. Do Hepa filters or coffee filters actually work if you insert them in the mask? What about vacuum bags?

The thing with masks, sunglasses, baseball caps is the anonymity they bring. Although sewn to protect me, the mask is a symbol of this isolating pandemic that sweeps the globe. I am near you, but not known to you, not available. Most of my facial expressions are hidden making me inscrutable, my smile lost in the fabric.

Like newborn babies, we want to bond to a face. We crave face-to-face interaction, and our faces and hearts light up when we see someone’s familiar features. Although phone teleconferences work well, people are flocking to Zoom because we want to SEE each other. We want to have that eye connection, see that distinct profile.

The yearning to bond with the face of our God has been a desire throughout history. Moses longed to see God face to face, but he was denied that opportunity because God knew Moses could not withstand His glory. Maybe Moses finally saw God’s face on the day that he died. Maybe he died in God’s arms looking full into that Wonderful Face.

Through kind acts and selfless sharing, I see God’s face during this crisis. I see him in the Grubhub driver delivering Olive Garden meals, the masked face of a healthcare worker leaning over the bed of a feverish patient, the Walmart employee restocking the bread shelf. Thank you essential workers, thank you good neighbors for sharing God’s face with me and each other.
Be the Love.
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“Restore us, God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved” (Psalm 80:7 NIV).
“For now we see obscurely in a mirror,
but then it will be face to face.
Now I know partly; then I will know fully,
just as God has fully known me” (I Cor 13:12 CJB).
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