T-shirts

For years I resisted the “layered” look.  Considering the hot climates I have tended to occupy over the last half-century, wearing one shirt instead of two seemed the comfortable, reasonable approach.  Plus it meant I didn’t have to buy more T-shirts.  (Hal Hammons, famous tightwad.  Surely we’ve met.) 

       Besides that, though, I hate seeing half of a T-shirt design.  I feel like I’m staring at total strangers’ chests, trying to crack the code.  If the wrong person takes offense, I could get myself arrested.  Board game partners are few and far between in the big house, I imagine.

I do the layer thing now sometimes.  But I make a point of either wearing a plain T-shirt or hiding the decoration entirely.  It’s the Golden Rule in action — maybe not the most morality-centered application, but still.

Why wear a message and then obscure it?  If I care enough about Walt Disney World to give them another $35, I should not be ashamed to say so.  Either believe in the cause enough to pay for the right to advertise it, or just leave the cause alone entirely.  And worse yet is a written message.  Ignoring the far left and the far right of the political spectrum does not give you a clear view of what this country is about.  The same goes for words on T-shirts.

That’s my approach to wearing Jesus, too (Galatians 3:27).  My light needs to be on display (Matthew 5:14-15), not partially covered up by worldliness and indifference.  True, I didn’t pay for this clothing — it’s a free gift from Jesus Himself (Romans 6:23).  But that doesn’t make it any less valuable or beautiful — at least to me.