Today’s Word from Pastor Jim…
Some days I wear a tie to work. I believe in looking professional. It probably goes back to something my dad told me once. He said, “Son you are not real bright, so dress well, it will help you.” Some days I wear a tie, other days a dress shirt or a nice sweater. I feel better if I am dressed for the role. The same goes for those who serve me in my daily life. I would be disturbed if the airline pilot flying the Boeing 767 had on shorts and a tee shirt. Unless of course it was a Trinity tee shirt. If my doctor looks old enough to have gone to college and is dressed professionally that bolsters my confidence.
Some days I wear a tie to work. If you see me in a clerical collar that tells you something about my day. I wear a clerical collar every Sunday. It is not a sign of privilege; it is about hospitality. The collar helps define my role, especially for visitors. If someone has a problem, a prayer concern or the need to cry on a shoulder, the collar is a quick indicator of my identity at the church. Greeters wear name tags, ushers wear name tags, coffee servers wear name tags, Pastor Katrina and I wear a clerical collar.
If you see me in a clerical collar during the week you can assume that there is a reason. Sometimes I wear a tie, but last week I wore the clerical collar five days in a row. On Thursday I was at the deathbed of one of our members in Everett. The collar is a strong symbol to the dying, and to those in medical institutions the collar opens doors during non-visiting hours. On Friday it was a wedding. That’s right, there is some strange correlation between the end of life and the beginning of wedded life. On Saturday it was a funeral and a double graveside committal. On Sunday it was a joyful worship service with a celebration of Holy Communion. Monday brought another graveside service for one of our beloved TLC saints.
Some days I wear a collar. A few years ago, I was visiting a man at Providence Hospital. As he awoke after surgery, I was standing by his bed dressed all in black and wearing a clerical collar. He said, “You were the first thing I saw, and I assumed I was dead.”
May God bless your week.
I am one beggar, telling another beggar where to find bread, I am your,
Pastor Jim
