At the end of last April, after two full years of avoiding it, my household was finally taken down by COVID-19. It was not fun, but having been vaccinated, we were only down and out for about a week. When I returned to the church office after quarantine, I felt fine, but continued to wear a mask around others out of an abundance of caution. I think we can all agree, however, that while they’re an effective way to stop the spread of illness, masks are THE WORST. Besides, there were times that I was the only one in the office all day. So as a way to keep other people safe from my germs while minimizing my own discomfort, I came up with an extremely clever solution (at least, by this pastor’s standards). I kept my office door closed, and I printed out a sign to hang on the door. It said, “Knock, and the door will be opened unto you (i.e., I’ll come out with a mask).” The sign is long gone by now, but the memory came back to me when I read this week’s scripture.
