Blow-out

Being a covering is hard work.

Evidently, I scratch the top of my head in perplexity a lot...or at any rate, that's where coverings wear out first. Both my currently active coverings have grown so threadbare at the top that they've developed small holes. Don't know when I'll have time to sew new ones.

I don't mind wearing them with holes in them. There's actually something satisfying about it. First the humility of knowing that I'm not too vain about them. If I were wearing them for show, I'd worry more about how they look. I think it also says something that I scratch my head in perplexity that much...I know I DON'T have all the answers, and the holes prove that I take the time to think things over! Then, too, their tattered, faded condition proves that I've been wearing them long enough to wear them out. It's not a passing fad for me, it's a commitment for the long haul.

After church at Willow Springs the other day, A brother I'd not talked with before shook my hand and introduced himself. He observed in a friendly and straightforward manner, "I've heard of the coat of many colors, but this is the first I've seen a covering of many colors!" I smiled broadly. I hadn't thought of my covering as a reflection of Joseph's famous garment. It "covered" (protected) him, too.

[Is it a sin of omission that I failed to point out the "queer" significance of the rainbow colors? Can I plead my case based on "Women should not speak in church?" Perhaps not...we had stepped outside onto the broad steps of the building, so technically we were no longer IN church. I think not. To discuss such matters would seem as inappropriate as expounding on my favorite website or rock star to him...it's a part of a world that is not their world. When in Rome, do as the Romans....]

The brother continued. "I presume you wear it for the same reason we do." I said that I'd started wearing it nearly 5 years ago. He nodded in approval, clearly satisfied with my answer. "Then it is a real conviction." "Yes, and that was after several years of discernment. My River Brethren friend gave me the pattern she uses...."

I do not know where this adventure is leading me, or the good brothers and sisters of Willow Springs. But it is clearly God who leads me wherever we are going.

I need only be present in each moment, listening to that still, small voice that seems so much louder when I step away from the turmoil of the "English" world.

Random Reasons...part 1 in a series

I wear the Rainbow Covering because...

...1 Corinthians 11 sez so. I'm so rebellious in general...always have been, always will be unless a miracle occurs...that when I realized there was a rule in the Bible about women that I COULD obey, I grabbed it quick!

...it makes "bad hair days" a moot point. Though not impossible, since my flyaway hair sometimes frizzes out from under it in a most untidy manner.

...it helps people understand that I really DON'T watch TV and have NO idea what they are talking about.

...it also helps people realize right away that I "march to a different drum" in many ways. Before, they would assume I was "normal", and then we would spend a lot of time and energy getting acquainted before they realized they really didn't want to hang out with me after all. Apparently my presence tends to remind people of all the stuff they don't want to do, or don't think they "should" do, but do anyway and then feel guilty about (cussing, drinking, all that "immoral" stuff the Bible lists). So they'd rather go away from me and not be reminded of what they think their "sins" are, instead of accepting that I accept them as they are (at least as long as my personal boundaries are respected).

So, with the covering many folks don't even try to have a conversation or be friends. The ones who want to learn to know me despite the covering are more likely to actually "get" who I am and what I'm doing, and respect me as I am. Of course, there are always some who approach because they think I can somehow intercede for them with God..."Pray for me, will ya?"

Ah, humanity! Too often we find it easier to believe in an angry God than in a loving one! Too often we doubt the power of our own clumsy prayers, and believe that some other human's prayers have more value to God! Whole churches have been founded on these ideas...but as for me, that is not what I understand from the gospels.