July 5, 2023
“It's About Those Shirts I Wear”: A Prayer
O Lord, it's about those shirts I wear, those shirts some, maybe many,
think a
titch too loud,
titch too much,
titch over the top,
little too
fancy,
flashy,
flamboyant,
more than a bit
outlandish,
outrageous,
ostentatious;
splashed,
spattered,
splattered
with color;
riotous, rioting, reds;
brash, brilliant, blues;
yowser, yummy, yellows;
offbeat, outré, oranges;
glowing, glimmering, greens;
colors on steroids;
patterns provoking;
glorious gardens growing;
flowers laughing loudly;
Chinese dragons dancing;
Darth Vader menacing;
Cuban cool cat;
Picasso prints, Miró murals, O'Keefe oils, Cubist cubes,
abstract artists’ abstracts; and
if not enough, try rhinestones,
rhinestones
winking, blinking, twinkling,
like lovely little lights lit;
love to wear,
don't care
if people stare;
make me smile,
give me joy,
bring me alive;
and that's what it is
about those shirts, they’re
such great fun.
But it's about more than that, O Lord, as you well know; they are my
daft, dotty, defiance;
minor, mini, mutiny;
puny, preposterous, protest;
ridiculous, risible, rebellion;
silly, subversive, stand; my
stand against
doctor's office gray,
glum, gloomy, grey
(What meant by value-neutral decorating - blech bland?);
attempt to add a little
color to colorless cancer corridors,
life to sterile sterilized examination rooms,
cheer to cheerless waiting areas;
louder the shirt the better,
scream for me
what I want
to scream:
still alive,
still enjoy,
still more than
scan on a computer screen; and my
rebellion against
politicians supposedly
so scintillating,
so stimulating,
so stirring,
but in fact
boring, boring beyond belief,
blah, blah, blah,
day in and day out, same old
whines,
twines,
lines; and so,
yawn, yawn, yawn;
spoiled, selfish, snotty,
brats;
and so,
please, please, please
shut up
until
grow up;
be laughable
if wasn't so seriously scary; but
have to laugh,
so ludicrous,
so farcical,
so absurd;
must laugh,
put on a shirt, or
go nuts,
go crazy,
go insane;
and my
protest against
the dismay always lurking about;
the despair always creeping around;
the depression always on the prowl;
hard to dismay, despair, be depressed, with shirts sparkling,
designs so delightful, joyous blooms big with joy; and
my mutiny,
my uprising, against
Christianity become
Christendom become
Church with a capital C become
Institution with a capital I become
Lifeless with a capital L;
maybe my shirts
should be my
new clergy shirts,
better than bleak black,
way better than grim gray,
way, way better than washed-out white;
resurrection shirts for a
Christianity, Church, Institution,
in desperate need of
resurrection;
and my
defiance of
this dangerous, dark, dingy world;
playful shirts reminding
me (and others) of
the beauty beyond the ugliness,
the hope beyond the idiocy,
the life beyond life, beyond death.
But the truth is, O Lord, it's about more than those shirts I wear,
because it takes more than putting on those shirts;
it takes
putting on Christ each day,
wearing Christ day after day,
adorning ourselves with Christ every day;
and that is my prayer,
not that we go out and buy a wild shirt or two (not a bad
idea, though),
but that we
sparkle with the light of Christ,
shine with love for God and the neighbor,
splash hope and joy and beauty
all over the place.
O Lord, heal, comfort, console, strengthen, and lift up those who
are ill, are suffering or hurting, are dying, are grieving,
are alone and feel lost, and the hungry,
the homeless, refugees everywhere.
Move us to be something of your presence to them in
whatever way we can, so they know we are
near to them and will stay by them.
O Lord it's about those shirts I wear, but more than anything
it's about wearing
the over the top mercy,
the flamboyant love,
the outrageous grace,
the sparkling faith,
the glittering hope,
that is
the wardrobe
of Christ;
wearing a
resurrection shirt
that is the most
stunning shirt
imaginable,
my absolute favorite.
Amen.