Day 4
Wednesday, November 29
Anna Assogba
When I was younger, my parents were friends with a Catholic priest, Father Madden, whose parish sat just down the street from our church. Father Madden had a long, sturdy coat he often wore; when he moved away to a warmer climate, he gifted the coat to my dad. My dad wore it for more formal obligations when the weather called for something heavier; as he slipped his arms into the sleeves of the coat, he would say, “I’m putting on my Father Madden.” Putting on the coat called to mind the man who had given it to him. Father Madden suddenly became much closer, through the linkage of this physical item to his personage.
My dad chose to wear this coat both because it was appropriate for the situation but also as a reminder of his friend. So too, we choose certain clothes according to what we plan to do that day and because of how they make us feel. We recognize that clothes can help determine our behavior; we wouldn’t hike up a muddy mountain in our best dress clothes. Paul underscores the influence of clothing when he encourages us to “clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 13:14a).
What does Paul have in mind here? I think Paul wants us to remember the closeness of Jesus and that this closeness creates an expectation for our behavior. But clothing ourselves with Jesus also means that Jesus himself will help determine our actions, if we allow him; he gives us freedom of movement but also helps us move appropriately in that freedom. Jesus is a cloth that is appropriate every day, in any situation, if only we only choose to put him on.
Anna lives in Somerville and enoys making cards.