My Uniform

Augh, it’s lousy and stinkin’, isn’t it?

There I was taking a nice brisk walk on my treadmill a few weeks ago when I stepped off it, stumbled and badly sprained my left foot.
The swelling and bruising is gone but I’m still in one of those big, honking ortho boots when I have to be on my feet for any length of time.

Injury equals pain and that equals lowered immunity. Then one catches a rotten, nasty headcold. But one has things to do, and one presses on until finally one says, “This is DUMB. I’m gonna die in bed for a day and I’ll get up when I can.”
And one moans and groans through one’s stuffed nose and wishes she were Lazarus, because if she was actually temporarily dead for a bit she’d get more rest.

Well, darlings, that’s how it goes sometimes. You push it so hard you almost break it.

I am doing a lot of special leadership things with my congregation this fall, and have started a monthly mid-week service. I am the programming leader for our Unitarian Universalist Christian Clergy Group (I call us the Hot Sexy Christians) that meets monthly, and I am serving on two boards, one local and one denominational. Our church fair is next weekend so I have been packing up boxes and bags of things to contribute to that.

I have been cooking for myself. Amazing how much time that actually takes, eh? That shopping, prepping (I’ve got beans soaking in a pot right now), cooking and cleaning up?
How about holiday preparations? Thanksgiving, anyone? Yes, I’ll be hosting a house full of pals.

Dating! Yes, some of that going on, too!

And trying to be inspired and inspirational, pastoral and healing and challenging and listening and praying and Holy Spirit filled as a preacher and liturgist. I completely re-crafted our All Souls ritual, which turned out to be a huge undertaking, and this past week’s liturgy (sometimes Unitarian Universalists don’t know when to leave well enough alone) was also very creative. I don’t know that anyone noticed, but I wanted all the music to be contemporaneous with the Victorian Arts + Crafts movement founder William Morris. We had more readings than usual, a bit more music, and … oh, PeaceBang’s been fussing too much. She needs a nice stretch of calm, orderly, familiar Sunday liturgies.

I find it very helpful to have a uniform to wear every day in my regular rounds of life. It is a new thing this season and just came naturally. I wear black pants, a black cami, and a blazer or cardigan. I wear boots or heels. My hair is always up, silver hoops, and I have a signature strand of black onyx beads with a parrot talisman at the end that I put on every day. Gel eyeliner for a bit of drama, and plum lips.

Black is where I am at right now. It expresses some things that are going on internally for me (good! good things!) and I love having clothes that I feel emotionally connected to and don’t have to think about. My garments are all carefully chosen for fit and they all have pretty details, eg, the camisoles have lace or tucking, the jackets are shaped and tailored.

Of course I don’t wear all black every day, sometimes I wear a purple cardigan or a print blouse, but not usually. I am adding pashminas for warmth now that it’s getting cold, and I’m dreading and looking forward to the first day I need to wear an overcoat.

At any rate, darlings, it’s hard to believe we in the USA are celebrating Thanskgiving already. What do you have planned for worship? We’re twenty minutes from Plymouth Rock here, and one of the first congregations gathered in America (1642), so I have a special fondness for the holiday. I know it’s a secular observance, but it lends itself so perfectly to church. And of course that first feast, however complex the relationship between Original Americans and European settlers was, had religious meaning for the Pilgrims.

Let’s all get out our buckled shoes and gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing.