Here
is a beautiful blessing for those who create, fund, share and wear facemasks
during the COVID-19 Pandemic. It was written by Rev. Donna Vuilleumier, Pastor
at Smith Memorial Church, UCC in Hillsboro, NH.
She
writes, “We have some women in the community who have been making face masks
and ear savers and sending them around the country, as well across the front
steps of our church for people to help themselves. This is not a unique
situation as this mask-making ministry is everywhere.”
A Blessing for Face Masks
Blessed
are those who give the gift of their time and their talent
to create face masks for others,
for their community, for strangers,
for they shall help to save the
lives of many people.
Blessed
are those who make masks for others to wear
so that together we may protect
others,
especially the most vulnerable
who at another time had protected us
when they worked as first
responders,
served in the military,
or taught us the school lessons of
our childhood,
for they shall truly know the value
of each human life.
Blessed
are those who work tirelessly to fill bins in the market
or the clothesline across the front door
of the church
with masks of all sizes and types,
for they shall know that this is
grace, compassion,
and love of neighbor.
Blessed
are the mask makers
who send face masks to those who may
be forgotten,
to the agencies that support the
homeless,
nursing home staff and residents,
the mentally ill,
the prisoner,
the tenderest among us,
for they shall have respected and
remembered the least of these.
Blessed
are those who crochet ear savers
and hunt down the buttons
that hook on to the face masks for
comfort
for those who wear them for endless
hours,
for they shall see the face of God
in each caregiver who wears one.
Blessed
are those who give out of their own money
for supplies and postage for face
masks and ear savers
because others’ lives and comfort
are more important
than their personal checking
account,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed
are those who wear face masks
to show their care for others,
who know that they can be passing on
the virus
that moves as a stealth,
infecting others days before their
own symptoms emerge
for they shall be for they shall be
called children of God.
O
Holy One.
Bless the mask makers, those who
create –
from cloth, flannel, elastic, wire,
yarn and buttons –
the barriers that allow us to be out
among others
yet keep them safe from what we
might be silently harboring.
Bless the mask wearers
that we may see them as a sign of
care and concern for others;
that we may see your face beneath
each mask.
Bless us all
that we may see that by covering our
noses and mouths
we have opened our eyes and our
hearts to one another. Amen.
~
submitted by Rev. Donna Vuilleumier, Pastor at Smith Memorial Church, UCC in
Hillsboro, NH.
