Dress for Success?

 Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work, driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for, in order to get to a job that you need so you can pay for the clothes, car and the house that you leave empty all day in order to afford to live in it. –Ellen Goodman

 

Zoom meetings have become the new way of gathering at a distance during this pandemic. I don’t have a lot of them, but I have had my share, and I smile because—well, because we are a funny species.

The thing about Zoom is, you can only see the person, at the most, from the waist up. And you can see whatever they carefully place in their background, but that’s it. Hardly a complete picture of who they are, or where they work.

And yet I admit it: when I have a Zoom meeting with my Association Minister or influential colleagues, I choose my shirt carefully (while still wearing my comfy jeans). I have been known to sit in the less-than-comfortable highback chair (and regret it later), so my really cool bookshelf full of Rob Bell and elephants and PEACE is my backdrop.

I carefully paint exactly the image of who I want to be seen as.

Anyone wandering by my office can get the whole view, of course, and probably smiles or even giggles a bit. If I am home, the whole image is blown as soon as the cat waltzes through.

How often do we put on our “Zoom face” to God, hoping God won’t look beyond the person we want God to see?

God really doesn’t care about your outward garb. God cares about your heart. Put that on display.


Monday On your way to work, school or the mall, pause at the red light and give thanks for our first responders who continue to serve faithfully and tirelessly. Ephesians 1:15-19

Tuesday Listen for sounds of the season: schoolchildren at play, leaves blowing, animals getting ready for winter. Are there sounds missing this year because of the pandemic? Offer thanks for variety in Creation. Ezekiel 34:11-16

Wednesday Close your eyes for a moment. Listen to your body as you breathe in and out. Feel the miracle of life flowing through your veins. Give thanks. Psalm 100

Thursday Pray today for children in another part of the world. Ask God to guide your thoughts-- and your actions. Ezekiel 34:20-24

Friday Take a few minutes to look in your closets. Are there items—a winter coat, perhaps—that you no longer need? Where do you have “more than enough”? Matthew 25:31-33

Saturday As you pray for yourself today, ask the Lord to reveal the uniqueness of you. Celebrate simply being a beloved child of the Most High. Matthew 25:34-39

Sunday Look around you at the beauty and variety of God’s children in this place. Praise God—even during this season of virtual worship, we are still bound together by God’s Perfect Love! Matthew 25:40

 

You don’t have to wear expensive clothes to look good. –Zooey Deschanel

 

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