A Positively Poetic Priest

Another warm one. No need for more than the dress and leggings. We can make all sorts of humorous statements about how warm it is at the beginning of fall this year, but all such comments point to the underlying issues of climate change. Hence the need for more people to be conscientious about what they are wearing.  I was thinking about this the other evening when my husband and I were listening to a random selection of Broadway musical numbers on a drive. The song "Sunday Clothes" from "Hello Dolly" came on and I realized how much the world has changed in regards to clothing in the last hundred years, at least in the United States. We used to only own a capsule wardrobe. We only had a few items, we wore the same things everyday and had a nice outfit for Sundays and holidays. Now, we tend to each own more clothing than we can remember. I am moving more and more towards only having a capsule wardrobe when I am done with this challenge.   

As a child, I wanted to do what Steve Jobs did: have one outfit I could wear everyday and have it work for everything. I have never liked shopping or thinking much about fashion. I have tried, in the last decade and a half, I have tried. But I still mostly get hand-me-downs, buy from thrift stores, etc. As long as it is comfortable and functional (and these days in black), I'm good.  So, earlier this year, I thought about the Wool& 100 day challenge. I bought a Wool& dress and I was amazed by it. I bought a second one, and I thought, I could live the rest of my life in this dress. If you don't know what the 100 Day Wool& Challenge is, you can read about it  here . I am going to do it, but taken up a notch. A 121 day challenge! (Sept-Dec, 4 months) I am going to do both the 100 Wool& Challenge, which means I need to wear the same Wool& dress everyday for at least 8 hours. I am going to work that into my own 121 day challenge of only wearing wool clothing, ex...

I have grown up in a world of synthetic materials. Plastics, synthetic fibers, polyester, nylon, acrylics, latex, Kevlar, Gore-Tex, and on and on. I was told at every turn that these were the materials of the future. And yet, as we live further into the climate crisis, it seems all the production of these synthetic materials is helping the crisis grow worse. Now, I am no one's fashion model. I was partially happy about my chosen profession because of the fact that I had a black and white uniform I could always fall back on. When it came to clothes, I always chose what was easiest. So, when I was told over the years that fabrics made from purely natural fibers were too hard to handle, I believed them. Cotton needed ironing, wool was too itchy, linen wrinkled easily. No worries.  I have come to realize all this was simply not true.  It may partially be that I live in Northwestern Pennsylvania, but in the last year, I have been fully living into the wool, especially merino wool, ...

Most of the content of our laundry is clothing. Clothing is an important part of our life as a society. Despite our best efforts not to judge people by what they wear, over and over, we judge people by what they wear. In some true ways, we know who people are by what they are wearing. As cues of our interactions, uniforms of all types, restaurant, delivery, mail, priests, and so on, determine how we will talk to and with certain people. Certainly, I find my uniform as a priest always starts interesting conversations when I am out in public. What we wear beyond our work is entirely up to our own sense of comfort, style, and modesty. But how we wear our clothing matters too. The brands we choose make a difference on how our clothing choices impact the world we live in, from the workers who make the clothing to the workers who make the materials and the way the materials are made or grown. The world is an interconnected place and our choices impact a lot of other people. There are pl...

This past Sunday, the Epistle reading in the Revised Common Lectionary was from the book of Ephesians, Ephesians 6:10-20. Since this passage is paired with the Bread of Life discourse from the gospel of John, the number of times one preaches on it is few and far between. This passage is rather well known for a passage from Ephesians, because it talks about putting on the armor of God. The author of the passage outlines some items of clothing which followers of Jesus should put on in order to fight against the spiritual forces of evil in this world. Belt of Truth Breastplate of Righteousness Shoes of Peace Shield of Faith Helmet of Salvation Sword of the Spirit It sounds lovely. But there are a few things I noticed about this passage this past week. While there are some very good reasons for the pieces of clothing mentioned, I realized that if I drew a diagram of the armor of God, it leaves some portions of my body rather uncovered. It also leaves out a few aspects of the fait...