Have You Got A Minute (though realistically it's something closer to 90 seconds)

Sometimes, a video ‘thought’ is posted by First Church. I include the text and a few pictures from one of them.

You can find all the HYGAMs on our Facebook page as well as on our YouTube channel. Just search for ‘First Church, Belfast’ to locate them.

“These days, seeing someone wearing a face mask is nothing unusual. I mean more like this one. And I can understand why people do it, because we don’t want to either breathe in particles that might contain the coronavirus, nor do we want to spread the infection if we are carrying it unknowingly.

But the truth is that virus or no virus, we’re all wearing masks.

That seems an odd thing to say, I hear you ask.

Thomas Merton was a Cistercian Monk who while living a cloistered life still wrote about many of the things that those of us out in the big bad world have to deal with. He wrote, “We have the choice of two identities: the external mask which seems to be real...and the hidden, inner person who seems to us to be nothing, but who can give himself eternally to the truth in whom he subsists.”

We all put on our happy masks every now and again. We tell ourselves that everything’s okay, or we try to present a carefree attitude to those around us to stop them worrying.

Our inner child we hide away, as Merton says, because the world around us values strength and independence. Our inner child is vulnerable and sensitive and cannot readily take the battering that modern life gives us. Anyone on Social Media knows exactly what I mean.

But it’s okay to reveal our inner selves. It’s okay to be vulnerable. It’s okay to feel frightened, especially these days. But know that you’re not alone. There are people who care about you, and if you have faith, then there is a God who loves you without condition, with or without a mask.

Keep safe and well. “