Who are we harming in our collective quest for " individual freedom"

  Today is the Feast of the Innocents. 

  It is one of the saddest days in the Church calendar--- as it is when we Christians commemorate the cruel murders of the baby boys-- ordered by King Herod in his fear-full quest to find the Christ Child. This story's contents are so terrible that I won't burden the reader with the details--- just suffice it to say that the Feast Of The Innocents is aptly named. 

These children were victims of an insecure , greedy & cruel monarch. Herod cared not whose families he devastated by his horrible order--- as long as his precious power was protected. 

Today's question: Who are the " innocents" who pay { sometimes with their lives} for others to exert our " freedom" and to remain " comfortable". 

God, please forgive me: I've no patience with people who refuse to wear a mask in public. My husband, a recent cancer survivor, is among the vulnerable whose lives Unmaskers endanger in order to preserve their so-called " independence " and " normalcy. 

It saddens me to think of how many empty holiday chairs could have remained filled if ALL OF US would put aside our individuality for the greater good of all people. I'll be honest---- I hate wearing masks. They fog my glasses-- if I am not mindful of the way I wear them. Worse, they obstruct the smiles of loved ones and muffle voices. 

I hate the mask. But I don them willingly in order to d my part to slow the spread of COVID. I mask because I am not among those who would die if COVID caught me, but because I want to protect everyone from falling ill. No matter what science-denying buffoon tweets on any given day, waring the masks { along with staying away from people as much as possible and NOT GOING TO HOLIDAY PARTIES }helps protect people. 

Innocent people from every walk of life are dying because some people--- many of them outside of the parameters for vulnerability-- refuse to wear a mask. 

I am not mincing words anymore--- anyone who till thinks that their rights outweigh protecting innocent, vulnerable lives is as selfish and deadly as Herod. 

Think of others. Wear the mask. 

Amen. 

Sarah McCarren 

Feast Of the Innocents 2020