BH Bulletin - Thursday 6 August 2020

Thought for the Day by Chris Dalton (BH Member)

                     Masks
Since 24th July in this weird world of 2020 that we find ourselves in we’ve all been required to wear masks in shops and small enclosed spaces where people gather and although, of course, we comply I’m pretty sure most of us hate it – I know I do! 

The face covering on the left is fairly normal nowadays but the ‘mask’ on the right is actually an actor’s mask from the 1st Century A.D. and it reminds me that often I’ve chosen to wear a ‘mask’ in certain circumstances to hide what’s really going on for me... my mask might have been the smiley one that says ‘I’m fine’ or the busy one that says ‘I’m indispensable’ or the confident one that says ‘I’m right’...and I’ve used it to hide insecurity and fear of rejection. The word for an actor in the Greek is ‘hypokrites,’ and yes, we get out the word ‘hypocrite’ from it because it’s all about pretending to be something or someone we’re not. Ouch!!!

In the Bible Moses wore a face covering [a veil] in the Wilderness after he’d been speaking to God. We read about it in Exodus 34.

“When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever he entered the LORD’s presence to speak with Him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD.” 33 -35.

Moses put on the veil so that the people wouldn’t see the glory fading and think less of him. In the same way I have sometimes worn a mask so that people think well of me – I wonder what kind of mask you might wear and what it is you might want to hide from others or convey to them?
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In the New Testament this true story about Moses and the face covering is mentioned in Paul’s 2nd letter to the Corinthian church. Paul writes something amazing and wonderful that encourages me – and I hope you – to never, ever put on a hypocritical mask again. Please spend some time thinking about and really grasping the truth of 2 Corinthians 2:17 & 18 [bold, underlined & italics are mine]
“Now the LORD is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the LORD is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the LORD’s glory, are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the LORD, who is the Spirit.”
WOW!
​Chris

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A message from Phil Moon (Vicar)

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​BH Bulletin frequency changes

​From next week we will be changing the frequency of the BH Bulletin to three days per week - Monday, Wednesday and Friday. This is due to staff shortages due to holidays among other things. Those of you that send in articles for publishing please do not stop as they are very much needed and appreciated.

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