Tattered Clothes

One of the things that I, and I'm sure many other writers, love about the Regency is the fashion. The clothes were fun and lovely and there were different types of dress for every occasion. Author Linore Rose Burkard has a fabulous article about fashion during the Regency time period. (She also has her third book out, The Country House Courtship; I haven't read it yet, but if it's anything like the first two, it should be wonderful.) The clothing of those wealthy enough to keep up with fashion was elegant, to say the least.

During this morning's sermon, our pastor mentioned that Jesus did not come as a fix-it Man. It is not that He is unable, but that He came for a different purpose than to make our lives here on earth perfect. What is this life if the life to come is not life, but death? Christ came to save our souls, to live and die and rise again so that we may have newness of life, not so that we can have all that we want now or so that our lives will be easy. Certainly, He blesses us with material as well as spiritual gifts, but it is our spiritual good that is center to what He did and what He does through the workings of His Spirit and His Word. The splendor of the most splendid clothes are like tattered rags compared to the excellence of what Christ gives us.

Dear Jesus, Friend of the downcast and Savior of sinners, grant me the peace and contentment that only You can give. May I remember that Your work on the cross has clothed my soul with a robe that is beautiful beyond comparison -- the robe of Your righteousness. Amen.