the pastor's new clothes....

the change in weather caused me to have to look in my 'winter closet' (it is kind of embarrassing to admit that i have two closets in my room; one for cold weather and one for hot.)  but, alas, it is a luxury not to have to dig boxes out of the attic or garage and exchange clothes for the season.  i confess, i am a 'white male of privilage', but i am also someone with less clothing than i had last year!  My winter clothing is somewhat dismal, and i feel 'frumpy' again -- even at 6 in the morning when i go exercising! 

i know that no one cares what i look like when i go walking -- i only care when i look in the mirror!  once i'm out and about -- especially in the rain -- i just don't want to look like a drowned pathetic pastor; i confess, i need to get over this!  alas, maybe one day.

none-the-less, when i went into the closet yesterday, i discovered that i had three pairs (there's that privilege thing again!  i can hear jesus now:  "if you have two jogging outfits, give one away to someone who has none".  well, i don't actually have "outfits", more like sweatshirts in various sizes and three pairs of gym pants.  the sweatshirts are out of shape -- and go along nicely with the pastor, thank you very much!  and the gym pants are, well in church we'd call them "holy" -- which might be nice in church, but not so much on the street for reasons that have nothing to do with fashion.

so, here i am; it is my day off; the perfect time to go shopping!  and the perfect excuse -- i actually 'need' something that will be useful.  so, away i go...shopping!

i went to marshall's first...to their clearance racks.  nothing.  then to their sport section.  i am not about to pay 20 bucks for a pair of gym pants -- i don't need to be a walking billboard at 6 in the morning!  besides, isn't this suppose to be a store that is sort of carries 'close-out' stuff?  that seemed a little high to me, and besides -- the guys shopping looked like they meant business.  so, at least i had something to compare to when i when to target next door.

in target, there wasn't a soul in the men's department, so i could really snoop around.  and there, folded and stacked nicely,  were gym pants...the kind i remember from high school...and, yes you guessed it, they were on sale!  half price! so, i just love 2 for 1 sales, so, of course, i bought two!

now, i am so use to reading labels these days that i couldn't purchase this great deal without looking at how they were made.

one thing you have to know about me is that i am a cotton man; never have liked polyester -- and it has nothing to do with the biblical notion of not wearing blended materials.  it has to do with, well, if you must know, sweat!  cotton breathes, and i find polyester doesn't.  so, that's my story and i'm sticking to it.

but, another thing you have to know about me is that i recycle.  polyester is a chemical; thermoplastic.  and these particular gym pants were a 50/50 blend of cotton/polyester...so i almost put them back, even though it was a great price!  BUT, then i read a little further, and 5% of the polyester was from recycled bottles.  so, i felt like i had a duty to perform; i was helping to save and support landfill.

so, home i go, stick them in the washer (because i hear my mama say, 'you never wear anything before you wash it first') and this morning, in between rain storms, i don my new and newly laundered gym pants and an ill-fitting old sweatshirt -- also a 50/50 blend, but not from recycled bottles -- and away i go.

1/2 way through my walk, i want to shed my sweatshirt, but i have no tee shirt underneath -- that would have made me way too hot (i know this from experience), but if i had taken off my sweatshirt -- well, let's just say, "not a pretty site".  so, i thought, a little discomfort for the sake of the cause.  the cause, of course, is that i'm still trying to be healthy, and i am trying to purchase just want i need, not what i want.  and i have lots of sweatshirts that need to get more holy before i replace them.

of course, there is always the clothes closet...and that might be a thought, since i don't need so many...just enough so i don't need to do laundry every day!

the pastor's new clothes...not a tie, not a shirt, not even a new pair of shoes!  gym pants...and remember, you heard it here first.  what's in your closet, by the way???