“Wear a mask and say a prayer because Jesus and germs are everywhere”
“Wash your hands and say your prayers because Jesus and germs are everywhere” is a saying that has been printed on many images. Authorship is uncertain.
“One of her mother’s favorite adjurations, Naomi (Judd—ed.) recalls, was: ‘Jesus and germs are everywhere, girls, even though you can’t see them. So say your prayers and wash your hands’” was printed in The Saturday Windsor Star (Windsor, ON) on September 7, 1985. “‘Wash your hands and say your prayers. ‘cause germs and Jesus are everywhere” was printed in the Philadelphia (PA) Inquirer on November 7, 1993, where Texas-based singer-songwriter and humorist Kinky Friedman credited American country music singer and actress Naomi Judd.
Naomi Judd popularized the saying of her mother, but it’s probable that Judd’s mother heard the saying from someone.
The saying had renewed popularity during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, when many people wore face masks and washed their hands frequently. “At the doctors office there was a sign that said ‘Wear a mask and say a prayer, cause germs and Jesus are everywhere’ and if that ain’t the most Russellville thing I’ve ever seen I dunno what is” was posted on Twitter by emily young on June 16, 2020. “Wear your mask and say your prayers cause Jesus and germs are everywhere” was posted on Twitter by The Gift Chicks on October 18, 2020.
Wikipedia: Naomi Judd
Naomi Judd (born Diana Ellen Judd; January 11, 1946) is an American country music singer and actress.
Newspapers.com
7 September 1985, The Saturday Windsor Star (Windsor, ON), “Mamma they’re crazy” by Jack Hurst, pg. C5, cols. 2-3:
One of her mother’s favorite adjurations, Naomi recalls, was: “Jesus and germs are everywhere, girls, even though you can’t see them. So say your prayers and wash your hands.”
Newspapers.com
11 May 1991, The Baxter Bulletin (Mountain Home, AR), “Mother’s Day Surprise” by Wynonna Judd, USA Weekend sec., pg. 5, col. 3:
“Jesus and germs are everywhere, so wash your hands and say your prayers.”
Newspapers.com
7 November 1993, Philadelphia (PA) Inquirer, “Kinky Friedman, Lone Sar” by Peter Landry, magazine sec., pg. 30, col. 3:
“I leave you with the words Naomi Judd told her children,” (Kinky—ed.) Friedman says finally. “She said, ‘Wash your hands and say your prayers. ‘cause germs and Jesus are everywhere.”
Google Books
Cowboy Logic:
The Wit and Wisdom of Kinky Friedman (and Some of His Friends)
By Kinky Friedman
New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press
2006
Pg. 97:
Wash your hands and say your prayers, ‘cause germs and Jesus are everywhere.
Google Books
How to Be Perfect:
One Church’s Audacious Experiment In Living the Old testament Book of Leviticus
By Daniel M. Harrell
New York, NY: Faith Words
2011
Pg. ?:
While teaching us to cover our mouths whenever we sneeze, our mothers also taught us to wash our hands afterward: “Wash your hands and say your prayers; germs, like Jesus, are everywhere.”
Google Books
Teaching the Cat to Sit:
A Memoir
By Michelle Theall
New York, NY: Simon & schuster
2014
Pg. 161:
Instead, I find: K-Love Radio, the Bible, I Love Jesus, and a photo of her bathroom with a placard reading: WASH YOUR HANDS AND SAY YOUR PRAYERS. JESUS AND GERMS ARE EVERYWHERE.
Twitter
emily young
@brainstormemily
At the doctors office there was a sign that said “Wear a mask and say a prayer, cause germs and Jesus are everywhere” and if that ain’t the most Russellville thing I’ve ever seen I dunno what is.
9:28 PM · Jun 16, 2020·Twitter for iPhone
Twitter
Lee Montgomery
@lee_montgomery
Sign at a church in Wilson, N.C.:
“Wash your hands and say your prayers: germs and Jesus are everywhere.”
(I would have substituted “coronavirus” for “germs,” but close enough.)
Please wear your mask.
#coronavirus #COVID19
6:14 PM · Jul 20, 2020·Twitter for iPhone
Twitter
Charles Crumpton.
@CCsfunphotos
I wear my mask, wash my hands, and pray cause Jesus and germs are everywhere. red-coronavirus lookin for a home
11:43 AM · Aug 2, 2020·Twitter Web App
Twitter
The Gift Chicks
@ChicksGift
Wear your mask and say your prayers cause Jesus and germs are everywhere mask
http://thegiftchicks.com
Direct Link
https://etsy.com/listing/860598293/wear-your-mask-and-say-your-prayers?ref=shop_home_active_1
12:02 PM · Oct 18, 2020·PLANOLY
Twitter
John Britt
@johnbrittpotter
Replying to @RealDonalDrumpf
“Germs and Jesus are everywhere so wear your mask and say your prayers.” Bathroom wall North Carolina
7:51 AM · Oct 19, 2020·Twitter for Android
Twitter
Allisyn Callanan
@allisyncallanan
Jesus and germs are everywhere!!
Quote Tweet
Angela Olson
@AngelaOlson19
· Oct 23
Catholic schools and Covid means Jesus and sanitation. Just a typical view walking by a classroom today!
8:24 PM · Oct 23, 2020·Twitter for iPhone