Uniforms
We did not do a written reflection journal on Sunday or Monday after our first night of night ministry. I kinda missed it. It should come as no surprise that I have a need to verbally process. Journaling or talking through it helps.
Last night I wore a clerical collar for the first time. People looked at me differently. Its hard to define exactly how but somehow they did. At first I thought maybe it was just me, uncomfortable at wearing it for the first time, but I think it was mostly that people looked at me differently and treated me differently.
Today I went back out into the world, this time minus the collar. The odd, sideways looks were gone. I was one of the crowd again. It's amazing how much peoples perception of you changes by wearing a little piece of plastic.
But that's the thing about uniforms, isn't it? We look at people to figure out who they are by the uniform they are wearing. We all wear uniforms. There was a folk singer named Peter Alsop who wrote a song about uniforms that came to mind.
I love my job, I love my boss, I love my paycheck too of course,
but most of all I love to wear those clothes that keep me warm.
I fit in with everyone when I'm in my uniform.
(Chorus)
Uniforms, Uniforms, wonderful, wonderful clothes,
When I get up in the morning, from my head down to my toes,
I've got my uniform, uniform, no decisions to make,
I just put on my uniform and start my day.
Levis, or a beach tan, or a polyester knit,
A jogging suit with stripes, or toe shoes that don't quite fit.
A cowboy hat, an apron, Phi Beta Kappa key,
I know all about you and you know me,
we're in our...
(Chorus)
In the military, you gotta wear your proper suit,
pay attention to insignia, so you know who to salute,
and in an altercation, well, you know who to shoot,
If you should die, well, we'll get by, 'cause there's lots of substitutes,
in the same...
(Chorus)
Gray-haired airline pilots, and nurses dressed in white,
and even fancy couples at the opera at night,
And sewer workers in their boots, just sloshing to and fro,
feel safer in a world where everybody knows that those...
We all wear uniforms, even when we are relaxing on our own. What we wear helps define who we are.
What are the uniforms of people around me? Do the poor and homeless have a uniform? Is it dirty hands? Because I have noticed that lately. How much does my uniform assume things about me that may or may not be true?
Every night this week I will wear a collar as I did last night. What do people assume that collar means? For some people, that collar has some very negative connotations. For some it is positive. But what I need to remember is that those perceptions are not about me as a person. At the same time, I represent the collar, and the behaviors of all before me who have worn it, whether I like it or not. Whether the people I come in contact with see it positively or negatively, I need to own up to all of that, because from here on out, it's my uniform.
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