By John Cordrey
Tonight as I was leaving Catie girl’s room, with her sound asleep, something out of the ordinary caught my eye. Earlier in the day, my second-grader had found a mask, leftover from a few months ago when the stomach bug ran through our house; now that mask was carefully hung over a picture from her baptism day. I was struck by this one image and how much it says about the life of the Christian amid the pandemic.
That mask speaks to the way this virus has overshadowed our lives in so many ways. Hidden behind the mask is the rest of our family. The mask hides our smiles and our joy. It reminds us of the danger and the fear in this moment.
That mask speaks to the desire to protect us from this virus tearing through our world. It reminds us of our deep need for a Great Physician to bring true healing upon our land, our families, and our bodies.
My little girl’s actions remind us that kids are coping in their own way, hanging masks in their room as though this would some how bring added protection. It makes us wonder why our children must wrestle with such issues at young ages.
But more than all of that, behind the mask, peaking out is Catie, clothed in her baptismal gown, just moments after being clothed in the white robes of Christ’s righteousness through her baptism. The true protection, the true healing, the true hope, the true life that comes from Christ shines from behind a surgical mask to remind us that today and every day, Jesus holds us in His hands.
How long will the mask hang on her baptismal photo? I have no idea. But tonight as I look on this image, I find myself, more than ever “convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39
Rest well, Catie girl, knowing that your protection is in the hands of the Almighty, the Lord who suffered and died for you, and rose again from the grave to overcome all death and the power of all sin.
Including COVID-19.