The EYES Have It!

All in favor of wearing face masks for the rest of your lives or for the duration of a global pandemic … say “AYE!”  All those opposed …Long before the government-imposed face mask mandate, I confess to occasionally showing up at church (when we still had in-person services) wearing my “church-face” mask. You know the one … Someone asks “how are you?” Your auto-response is, “I’m fine,” even though you are anything BUT fine.

For many of us, our facial responses can be read like a best-selling novel. We wear our emotions all over our faces. Don’t believe me? How many times have you given your children or your husband – the look and they know EXACTLY what you mean?Face masks are the great equalizer. Suddenly, we are all faceless, emotionless beings moving through life camouflaged and covered. Don a hat and big sunglasses along with your mask, and your own mother couldn’t pick you out of a lineup.

We obey the rules though and do as we’re told. We follow the directional arrows and social distancing signs while shopping. We avert our eyes, avoiding eye contact. What’s the point of actually looking at people now? They can’t really see us. Masks offer anonymity, which is a plus if you’re not a people person. But what about the lonely or those that are hurting?

Masks have made it significantly easier to hide our true feelings. But sadly, behind these masks – many people may not be fine.This is not a debate for or against the wearing of masks, but rather a challenge of sorts. Communication is suddenly harder than ever. We need to employ all of our Spidey senses and be better listeners and better communicators.

A random smile will go completely unnoticed unless that smile reaches your eyes. People can’t see our reactions and we can’t see theirs. It’s up to us to make our reactions reactive. Our eyes are one of our most symbolic sensory organs. It’s been said they are the window of the soul.Our eyes can convey intelligence, moral conscience, passion, truth and even lies. We are taught to look someone in the eye when we speak to them. Now because of COVID, this isn’t just a great suggestion, but a necessity if we want to communicate honestly and effectively.

Now that we are back at church – we can’t be all touchy-feely right now and hug our long-lost friends so they know how much we’ve missed them.   We’ve got to do the next best thing … Let our eyes do the talking!  Make an effort to retrain yourself to be a better ocular communicator!  Cover your face – not your emotions!“Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!     Matthew 6:22-23 NLT

Blessings in Christ,
Kathy K.