Just today, I saw a short video put out by Virginia Theological Seminary showing the newly renovated offices of the Lifelong Learning Department, a wonderful resource for Christian formation materials and training for educators. My sense of balance was thrown as the video, shot in vertical mode on a cell phone, bobbed through the beautiful facility showing the new offices and people at work. At the end the camera operator turned back towards themselves to show themselves without a mask. It’s my sincere hope that they had been wearing one until just that moment.

I found myself reacting negatively to their masklessness before I could be gracious. I know the camera operator. They are a considerate person who acts in the best interest of others as a matter of long habit as well as deliberate action. So to be caught so off guard by the sight of them without a mask was notable. Why had my emotions jumped to the negative so quickly, and maybe more importantly why was it so easy for me to forget the person and project onto the image?

Public life can be dehumanizing. Everything we do or don’t know about a person might suddenly be absent from our thinking in the moment of seeing or interacting with a representation of them. I have certainly felt it hard to maintain a sense of human connection in the era of zoom calls. Many of the people we see at our jobs and in leadership of this country may only ever be available to us through the distorting filters of technology and distance.

I encourage St. Luke’s to take time this week and seek out one moment when it has been easy to let emotions run to the negative. Hold that moment up for more attention and pray for yourself and for the people who were in that moment with you. Consider Romans 12:14 “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.” Consider prayer for yourself and all who, in public life, may need God’s blessing for the good of the whole world.

In peace,

Deacon Chip