The Masking of Nations

'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and Love your neighbour as yourself' Luke 10:27

Covid-19 pandemic forces several countries in the world to mandate mask wearing as a preventive health measure. It was felt that since this Corona virus spread by way of droplets, mask wearing could prevent infection from coughing and sneezing whilst at the same time protect the wearer. While many obeyed this rule dutifully, many others revolted against it claiming that mask wearing cramped their styles.

The masking of nations exacerbates a well-known but largely ignored condition of modern society - loneliness, withdrawal, seclusion and self-imposed confinement. In crowded urban societies individuals exist with glassy looks speaking to no one, glued to their computers, TVs and reduced to texting on their mobile phones. These individuals eventually become very depressed and suicidal. The social distancing and mask wearing imposed in the wake of the pandemic invoked a wave of suicides.

This condition is not new, the masking of nations only serves to unmask a condition which, as early as 1963, Paul Simon starting writing about. In 1964 the famous duo Simon and Garfunkel recorded the 'Sounds of Silence'.

 

Hello darkness, my old friend

I've come to talk with you again

Because a vision softly creeping

Left its seed while I was sleeping

And the vision that was planted in my brain still remains

Within the sound of silence

In restless dreams I walked alone

Narrow streets of cobblestone

'Neath the halo of a streetlamp

I turned my collar to the cold and damp

When my eyes were stabbed 

By the flash of a neon light that split the night

And touched the sound of silence

And in the naked light I saw

Ten thousand people, maybe more

People talking without speaking

People hearing without listening

People writing songs that voices never shared

No one dared disturb the sound of silence

"Fools," said I, "you do not know

Silence like a cancer grows

Hear my words that I might teach you

Take my arms that I might reach you"

But my words like silent raindrops fell

And echoed in the well of silence

And the people bowed and prayed

To the neon god they made

And the sign said, "The words of the prophets

Are written on the subway walls

and tenement halls."

and whispered in the sound of silence

Paul Simon was expressing his angst towards the extent of alienation in this modern world. Garfunkel summed up the meaning of the song as the inability of people to communicate with each other. In the end these become people who are unable to love each other.

Nothing was done to alleviate this condition and in the 2019-2021 pandemic, the mask became symbolic of people unable to speak to each other. 

In this silent crowded world, the Bible speaks loudly of love and of being brotherly, sisterly and neighbourly. We learnt about reaching out to the lonely, the marginalised and ignored people of this world by way of a trick question posed to Jesus Christ, Who is my neighbour? In response, a parable was told by Him. It will do well for the world and especially Christians, to learn and live the way of the Good Samaritan:

• Help a friend, a stranger, even an enemy
• Render assistance at  anytime and anywhere
• Give personal care and attention 
• Act from good underlying attitudes and inner beliefs
• Be consistent and not just offer a one-off act of kindness         

Yes Jesus Christ emphasised a deep abiding community spirit and rejected the  alienation in modern societies, Luke 6:35-38:

"But love your enemies, do good to them

and lend to them without expecting to get anything back.

Then your reward will be great

and you will be children of the Most High

because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Do not judge and you will not be judged.

Do not condemn and you will not be condemned.

Forgive and you will be forgiven

Give and it will be given to you. 

A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over will be poured into your lap."

There is an old forgotten song, a favourite of the late Rev Martin Luther King, that is worth listening to once again at these times when people are hearing without listening, 'If I Can Help Somebody As I Pass Along'.

If I can help somebody as I pass along,

If I can cheer somebody with a word or song,

If I can show somebody that they're travelling wrong

Then my living shall not be in vain

Then my living shall not be in vain

Then my living shall not be in vain

If I can help somebody as I pass along

Then my living shall not be in vain

If I can do my duty as a Christian ought

If I can bring back beauty to a world up wrought

If I can spread love's message as the Master taught

Then my living shall not be in vain

Lionel

Day By Day

 
'Who is a God like You, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance? You will again have compassion  on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depth of the seas.' Micah 7:18-19

Today is New Year's Day for 2021, a year that all of us hope to be much better than the Covid-laden 2020. Having faced the pandemic how would we live 2021? What will be our New Year resolution? 

At the close of his book the prophet Micah asked the question Who is a God like You? It is a question many of us should ask. Who is God? And do we know our God? Perhaps we can make this our 2021 resolution, to know God better.

This brings us to a song Day by Day in the musical Godspell. Day by Day is a very catchy tune, like a modern day nursery rhyme. This song became a top hit as many people were attracted to the simple repetitive tune. It is based on a prayer ascribed to the 13th-century English Bishop Richard of Chichester.  

"May I know Thee more clearly,

Love Thee more dearly,

Follow Thee more nearly."

 

We know that the uniqueness of Christianity is the restoration of our relationship with God. However, many of us after being restored, fail to further this relationship. Perhaps we can use this song to deepen our relationship and to

Know Jesus
Love Jesus

Obey Jesus 

There is another song with the same title, Day by Day (and with Each Passing Moment), a hymn written in 1865 by Carolina Sandell Berg, known as the Fanny Crosby of Sweden. On a voyage with her father, Pastor Sandell, the boat they were on lurched to one side and her father was thrown overboard. He drowned as Carolina looked on. In this tragedy, she discovered that God's comforting presence is always near and this, inspired her to compose the hymn.   

Day by day and with each passing moment,

Strength I find to meet my trials here;

Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment,

I've no cause for worry or for fear.

He whose heart is kind beyond all measure

Gives unto each day what He deems best--

Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure,

Mingling toil with peace and rest.

Ev'ry day the Lord Himself is near me

With a special mercy for each hour;

All my cares He fain would bear, and cheer me,

He whose name is Counselor and Pow'r.

The protection of His child and treasure

Is a charge that on Himself He laid;

"As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,"

This the pledge to me He made.

Help me then in eve'ry tribulation

So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,

That I lose not faith's sweet consolation

Offered me within Thy holy Word.

Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,

E'er to take, as from a father's hand,

One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,

Till I reach the promised land.

So how would we make good this New Year resolution? We turn to God for every encouragement, help, mercy and strength to walk through life one step at a time, day by day, using this prayer hymn. The secret to a deepening relationship with Jesus, to know, love and obey Him, is to pray day by day.

May 2021 be the year where we discover God, His will, His purposes for our lives.

Happy New Year 

Lionel