“Wash your hands, cover your face and make space”.

Doug writes: 

Hands. Face. Space is the new mantra. When you are dealing with a contagious virus these are three areas to watch with great care. I wouldn’t mind adding the word “Brain” to that list.

It seems that some people think that masks and distancing goes against their democratic rights. There were protests in Germany the other day by a large group who not only protested but deliberately ignored all health advice. Some may have been genuine “non-believers” of some sort (if such a thing is possible in this case) but the fact of a large neo-Nazi presence suggests that brains were not functioning well.

There have been some similar protests in the UK and the US also, which is pretty shocking. We all know how awkward and inconvenient this virus is, and we should know that it can have a devastating impact on others even if we feel invulnerable ourselves for some unfathomable reason.

Yet even walking round our town, people can be very casual about distancing. Some simply carry on as if you weren’t there, rather than seeing it as a shared responsibility. A few others actually walk around our supermarkets with no mask whatever, despite it being illegal.

It is now becoming illegal to attend a place of worship unless you are wearing a mask. Including All Saints. It is inconvenient and displeasing, and for the priest it makes preaching and leading prayers much more difficult, but we need to recognise that the familiar places and actions from the past cannot currently be done in the way they once were. We need to embrace that fact.

The virus shows us all too clearly that people respond in many ways to adverse stimuli, sometimes out of fear and frustration if not folly. I believe in the power of protest - so often vital change has been made in response to people’s combined stand against injustice. But in pandemic situations large and small, international and local, we need to work with the authorities and trust and pray that the situation will be remedied in the near future, aware that there remains a significant threat to us all.

Hands, Face, Space: it is incumbent on us all to sanitise our hands regularly, to mask our face in public places, to maintain social distancing and ensure that the space is not between our ears.