Recently my wife and I needed to travel for a family funeral. While we are both vaccinated we still take care to wear masks when out in public or in larger gatherings, if anything, out of respect for others and the habit of doing so for the past year. Shortly after the funeral service, a family member pulled me aside and said to me:
“You know you don’t have to wear that mask. You don’t have to be afraid.”
At the time I didn’t know how to respond to that statement. Not due to its profoundness, but its absurdity. I do not wear a mask out of fear, but as a means to love and care for my neighbor.
I wear a mask because we cannot tell at a glance who has received the vaccine, much like how we cannot tell at a glance who may be infected with the virus and contagious.
I wear a mask as a way to help protect those who are ineligible to receive the vaccine and to put them more at ease if they are to come into contact with me.
I wear a mask because even though the vaccine has made me resistant to the virus, there is still a possibility I may become infected. As such I wish to reduce the spread of that infection as much as possible so that others may not become infected as well.
I wear a mask because even though some people are over and done with the pandemic, this does not mean the pandemic is over.
I wear a mask because I want to protect others around me as much as I wish they would want to protect me when I am around them. Wearing a mask is the simplest form of caring for another person during this dark time of which the world is beginning to crawl out.
That’s not fear you see. That’s compassion.
To say that I wear a mask out of fear of an invisible virus makes as much sense to say that I attended this funeral out of fear of death. I did not travel hundreds of miles to attend the funeral of a family member because I’m afraid to die.
I did so out of compassion for the people in mourning.
I did so as a means to comfort the family and friends that are in pain from their loss.
I did so for the brothers and sisters who lost a sibling.
I did so for the sons and daughters who lost a parent.
I did so for the the men and women who lost a friend.
I did so because I want to support those in their time of need, just as I hope others will support me if and when my time of need occurs.
Do not mistake compassion for fear.