A rare intersection of the Narrative Lectionary and the Revised Common Lectionary! I was working on this passage for this coming Sunday, as well, and was struck by the language around the new clothes.
I loved what you had to say in the notes about the special clothes for special milestones
When had to lead my first funeral, we went out to Belks and I bought my first suit. I don't wear a suit that often but when occasions require, putting on that suit makes me feel like an actual honest-to-God Pastor, not just a kid playing at it. A wardrobe change can be transformational! There is dignity in a new set of clothes.
I don't know if there's anything in this but I was talking to an UMCOR coordinator who was relating to me that they never ask for old clothes. People always want to donate their old clothes but they actively discourage it. He recalled during the aftermath of Katrina being in a warehouse and seeing mountains and mountains of old clothes being eaten by rats.
For years, the administrator of the Methodist Mountain Mission here in Kentucky was a man by the name of Lee Hubbard. He would always wear clothes to Annual Conference that had been donated to the Mission. The more outlandish, the better. If anyone commented on his outfit, he would very sincerely reply "I just assumed these were good clothes, because people were excited to donate them to the needy."
A rare intersection of the Narrative Lectionary and the Revised Common Lectionary! I was working on this passage for this coming Sunday, as well, and was struck by the language around the new clothes.
I loved what you had to say in the notes about the special clothes for special milestones
When had to lead my first funeral, we went out to Belks and I bought my first suit. I don't wear a suit that often but when occasions require, putting on that suit makes me feel like an actual honest-to-God Pastor, not just a kid playing at it. A wardrobe change can be transformational! There is dignity in a new set of clothes.
I don't know if there's anything in this but I was talking to an UMCOR coordinator who was relating to me that they never ask for old clothes. People always want to donate their old clothes but they actively discourage it. He recalled during the aftermath of Katrina being in a warehouse and seeing mountains and mountains of old clothes being eaten by rats.
For years, the administrator of the Methodist Mountain Mission here in Kentucky was a man by the name of Lee Hubbard. He would always wear clothes to Annual Conference that had been donated to the Mission. The more outlandish, the better. If anyone commented on his outfit, he would very sincerely reply "I just assumed these were good clothes, because people were excited to donate them to the needy."