masks

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Our Emotions Need Checks And Balances

Our emotions are such a powerful part of us, but they need to know their place in our lives.

our emotions need checks and balances

Sure, a world with little or no emotion would be a world without crying, sadness and loneliness, but it would also be a world with no joy, happiness and laughter. 

Our emotions are essential. Imagine going to a sporting event where no one cheered, no one shouted. Instead, people just watched randomly, talking amongst themselves in the stands. There would only be a constant low level noise, the sound you might hear when you get close to a bee hive. 

Or think of going to the movies and watching a new blockbuster show that starred most of Hollywood, and the highest paid actors at that. There would be silence in the theatre, no “oohs”, no sighs, no laughter, just blank faces staring at the changing colours and intensities of light emanating from the screen. 

To be honest, without emotion there would not be sports to watch or movies to go to. No one would be passionate enough to do them.

But emotions have their place and they need to stay in their place.

When we exalt our emotions to have greater influence on us than they should, it is as harmful to our lives as no emotion would be.

In the past we have designated our emotions to be subservient to our thought process. Our thinking, the use of our mind, has always just been tempered by our emotions. 

Our society has been driven by facts and reasoning and order and good judgement.

But over the last years, we have been moving from a society that is guided by mindful understanding to one that is lead more by emotional responses. Now our mind, our thinking, takes a back seat to our emotions when making decisions and determining actions. 

Case in point, this week the chief medical officer for Kingston announced that everyone had to wear a mask when inside a public space: grocery stores, convenient stores, malls, halls and churches. 

The reason for this was based on one manicure shop in Kingston. There was a breakout of 18 COVID cases from this shop. The shop had broken cleanliness rules, distancing rules, and probably a few other rules as well. 

People got the virus in an overcrowded establishment where people are kept stationary in close quarters for extended periods of time. 

The logical thing to do was to treat the sick, trace the source and reaffirm commitment to proper social distancing and hand washing, etc. 

But that was not what happened. Our medical officer took the emotional approach. 

Now it doesn’t matter what the conditions are, if you are inside a public building you have to wear a mask. There might be two of you, thirty feet from each other, but you have to wear a mask. Your business could have signs and space and sanitizers available – you still need a mask.

Wearing a mask will not ensure safety to those who are already practicing proper distancing and cleanliness. It’s an emotional decision and I’m concerned that this is becoming a trend. 

Here’s the thing: There is a belief by many that faith is nothing more than an emotional decision, that it is a comfort to believe in a god. But the truth is that faith is a mindful decision that is tempered by emotion. I first believed in God because the compelling evidence in the Bible, science and nature made sense to me. Then when I got to know God more, my emotions were drawn to Him. True faith has the right combination of thought tempered by emotion. Be sure to keep emotion in its rightful place. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: When has an emotional response got you into trouble? Leave your questions and comments below.

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Face Masks May Become The New Fashion Statement

There is a time and a place for face masks, but some people haven’t figured out that place.

face masks may become the new fashion statement

… It’s crazy that I just wrote that sentence! Three months ago I would never have thought about writing about face masks.

But now, in the midst of COVID, face masks are even becoming fashionable. A whole cottage industry is rising up, making these accessories that used to be set aside for kids pretending to be cowboys or for biker gangs.

I know those masks look a little different, but apparently I may have to dig out a bandit scarf from our kids’ old tickle trunk if I want to go to Costco.

There have been times when I have worn a face mask and a couple of times when I wore a goalie mask. When I was doing some home construction I wore one because of all the dust and debris.  

There is a time and a place for face masks, but the other day I saw a whole lot of wrong places for these facial protective devices.

We were traveling from Kingston to Toronto on the highway, where we saw several people driving – some probably for hundreds of kilometres – wearing a mask … wait for it … ALONE in their vehicles! 

That’s right, they were protecting themselves from themselves.

It’s possible they had the coronavirus and they were making sure that they didn’t give it to themselves again. Maybe they thought they needed to filter the air that was circulating through the car, which happened to be the same air they were breathing into the car’s ventilation system.

I figure that wearing a mask for a long trip would get all hot and sweaty. They were probably incubating a new form of the virus or the next virus that will send us into a second wave of the pandemic. As soon as they open their car door at a gas station, the virus will be unlocked and spread to all those unsuspecting people innocently pumping gas into their tanks. 

Or that guy who was driving a van wearing a mask, can you imagine how many germs he would release into the atmosphere after being stored up for a few hours in that rolling container?

Now I’m not saying that people should not be wearing face masks. They’re fine if you are in a crowded area, or if you want to protect others. 

The bottom line is a face mask is appropriate when other people are around. 

If you are walking alone through a park – wait, can we do that yet? – you don’t need a mask.

If you’re outside suntanning in your backyard by yourself, you don’t need to wear a mask. But if you do, afterwards you’ll look like you have a permanent mask on your face.

During this time, there is a place for wearing a face mask. You just have to pick the right place to wear it. 

Here’s the thing: There is a time and a place for everything. But in this age of COVID, the time and place for things can become muddled. We can find ourselves doing things that we wouldn’t normally do during this time or place. For instance, with not having to get ready and go to church on Sundays, it would be easy to fill that time with something else. So, during this pandemic, make sure you keep a time and place for meeting with God and your church family.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How has your church experience been during the last couple of months? Leave your comments and questions below, and subscribe to have these posts delivered to your inbox.