Church Clothes

Growing up in the St. Vincent, my choice of clothes was limited due to financial constraints.  That did not stop me from having what we called ‘church clothes’.  Church clothes were set aside to wear to church on Sundays.  It was just wrong to wear them on any other day.  (I guess this is where the term Sunday best came from).

My church clothes were not limited to just pants and shirts, they also included underwear, shoes and socks.  It was understood that everyone had his or her church clothes.  It was normal.  At least to me.

When I moved to Canada, I brought this custom with me and separated my regulars from my church clothes.  If I did not attend church, my clothes sat unworn.

It was with some reluctance that I first wore a pair of jeans to church.  Even though I blended in with every other non-church-clothes-wearing worshipper, I felt like an outcast.  Here I was dressed like a commoner in the presence of God! How disrespectful!  I grew up in Catholic household where even my grandmother tried to upstage those who were half her age by dressing to the nines.

Later, I changed churches and attended The Seventh Day Adventist Church and we wore our Sunday Saturday best at church.  Jackets and ties were common.  We dressed to impressed, I’m just not sure who.

I am now a member of a jeans and t-shirt wearing church.  Shorts and slippers are not uncommon.  You are even allowed to enjoy your favorite brew as you listen to the sermon.  There is a casual air of acceptance in this church.  Last week I even saw a woman wearing sweats with paint all over the backside.  That, I thought was pushing it a bit.

Talking about pushing it, some church members and non-members seem to get carried away by the lack of a dress code and go overboard with their choice of attire.  Last week, as I looked towards the screen to read the words of a song, the sight of a naked flesh caught my eye.  Instinctively, my eyes zeroed in on the distraction and it was a young woman wearing a back-exposing top.  I am a Christian but I’m also a man. A heterosexual man, so yes, I found it a bit distracting.

A church is made up of all kinds of struggling people.  It’s the reason we are there, right? right??  That and to praise God.  If I had a drinking problem, the last thing I would want to see is someone drinking in the place where I came to get help.  If I had a sexual problem, a church with female church members flashing legs and cleavages would not be in my best interest now, would it?

I know some of you women had that sexy dress or top that has hung in your closet for a long time because you gained some weight.  Now you have worked hard and lost a few pounds and understandably, you want to show off your new bod and wear the dress you haven’t worn in forever.  Props to you! Congrats!  But church is just not the place to wear it.  We are here for you and support you in your weight loss but can we get an hour or so to focus on God and not your body?

Shopping or family time?

Remember when we were not allowed to shop to shop on Sundays?  Well it’s not that we were not allowed, we couldn’t even if we wanted to.  Why? Because the storekeepers were also not allowed to open up their stores.  It wasn’t a problem as there are seven days in a week and if I needed an extra one to shop then I needed something more than just the ability to shop on Sundays.  I would need an intervention of sorts.

Remember how the law makers tweaked the rule and allowed stores to open but not before 12pm and no later than 6pm?  Some people were excited about this, others weren’t.  The ‘others’ were those who had to work on a Sunday thus sacrificing their family.

Fast forward to present. Present as in today.  Today the newspapers scream,   ‘MORE TIME TO SHOP ON SUNDAYS – Province plans to ease limits on Sunday shopping‘  Ease limits on Sunday shopping? Wasn’t that what they did when they allowed stores to break with tradition and open at noon?

The fabric that holds families together is getting  stretched and worn out by man’s greed.   Corporations dictate when and how much time we could spend with our families.   How about the employees who saw their Sundays off turned into half day offs and now full day Sundays?  Is the sacrifice worth it?  I don’t think so. 

If you an avid shopper who would prefer using your extra time to interact with a Sales Person rather than a family member, I am sorry but you need to reconsider your priorities.  But that’s just my take.

 

Related articles

• George Osborne to announce changes to Sunday shopping hours (oyiabrown.wordpress.com)
• Cartoon: Sunday Shopping (englishblog.com)
• UK to extend Sunday shopping hours for Olympics – ESPN (sports.espn.go.com)
• Majority of shop workers oppose suspension of Sunday trading laws (premierlinedirect.co.uk)

My Church

Image via Wikipedia

Image via Wikipedia

I just had an urge to blog about the Church I attend.  I choose to worship there, not because they are the best group of people, although they are a darn good bunch,  or because the pastor deliver the best sermons.  I chose this Church because it answered most of my questions as to what I wanted in a ‘home church’.  I say ‘home Church’ as I do not allow myself to be confined to attending this church exclusively.  I also attend an Anglican Church at least once a month,  plus a couple other denominations at least a couple times a year.  I like to experience different forms and types of worships.  It helps to keep things fresh.

Now you are probably wondering what questions my Church answered to make me want to make it ‘my Church’.  Well for one, this may seem very trivial, it is literally outside my backyard.  Attending church can sometimes be like going to the gym.  You miss a day and then it turns into a week and before you know it, you have not attended in a month or maybe a year.  Having a church in close proximity to your home, helps to eliminate this tendency.  If perchance I have to miss church, I try to keep my curtains drawn just in case I am seen by church member while I am sitting on my couch watching football on TV.   My church also has more than a few members of its congregation who still remember my name and seem genuinely pleased to see me whenever I show up.  Laugh if you must but the last church where I worshiped  for over 15 years,  I still never felt like I was a real part of it.  There were cliques in the congregation that seemed harder to break into than a bank’s safe.   So that was question number two that my church answered.  The really big one was that the resident Pastor who sadly, recently moved to another province,  delivered sermons  in a way that kept my attention and made me stay awake.  (this, I assure you is no easy feat).  God forgive me, but my ADD kicks in when a preacher/pastor sounds as if he might be on the verge of falling asleep as he delivers a sermon.   I don’t think any sermon is boring.  It is all in the delivery.  Sermon content and appropriateness plays a big part also.

There are a few other points that my church has that made me gravitate to it like the live band that is very enthusiastic every Sunday, the coffee breaks where coffee and hot chocolate are actually served are just a couple.