Countenance

 May God  . . . show us the light of his countenance and come to us.

 - From Psalm 67

1. The American Heritage online dictionary defines "countenance" as follows:

• Appearance, especially the expression of the face.
• The face or facial features.
• A look or expression indicative of encouragement or of moral support.

The face. Facial features. An expression.

If you cover it up, it's no longer a "countenance." The face has to be seen. Not half a face. Not a covered face. The face. 

I've written before about the light that is emitted from the face. The entire human body itself gives forth light. The face gives off more light than any other part of the body. The part of the face that gives off the most light is the lower half of the face. I may have referred to this scientific fact as many as a half dozen times, since March 13, 2020. 

I marvel that some people don't care. Or listen. Or hear. God shares the light of His countenance, and it is something we crave. 

Are we followers of God? If God's adversary in the world wanted to confound Christian believers . . . if it wanted to divide us, discourage us, weaken us, confuse us, and frustrate us . . . wouldn't it want us covering our faces? Wouldn't it want our faces hid? 

It has been said, "You can smile through your eyes." Yes that is true, you can. But I would hypothesize that the eyes also convey more ire and hate, when the mouth is covered, than not. You need the entire face, for context. I suggest that the claim that "the eyes smile" is more than offset by the opposite. A mouth-covering makes the eyes more capable of expressing hate, than love. 

You need the entire face. You need the part of the face that gives forth light. 

It's a dark world. We need light. 

In 2022 . . . perhaps this will become a parameter that some of our mask-happy friends will finally admit, must not be crossed in order to make us "safe."