KGBlog

(this comes from a post i had on the "interns" blog...i was going to re-write it for this one but i cant seem to say it in another way...so here's background...we have devotions as a staff at church. this was written to the interns after this mornings devo. sorry for it being really long, i wont do it again...ps some of them are from colorado...ok....enjoy)

as the majority of the bloggers on this blog are not from the south i will give some background to the hat rule. in the south (i dont know how things go elsewhere, colorado for example) it is customary to remove one's hat durring prayer, among other things. the list includes the bowing of heads, closing of eyes, removing of said hats, etc. and it is customary to remind everyone to do these things before entering the prayer portion of time. i have always found it to be a bit....a lot of rules. rules annoy me. especially when they get in the way of me being with god. today at staff devos we prayed. not unusual. but i woke up late this morning. i didnt shower, so i wore a hat. autin did too (it made me feel less uncomfortable to see that i wasnt the only one...the south has planted a fear of wearing hats in doors deep in my bones). anyway, we prayed and i started to feel self conscious about the hat because of the rules i hate. perhaps let me back up and say that i think the hat rule is ridiculous. god doesnt ask that i remove my hat. he enjoys it when i come respectfully to him, but for my generation removing a hat is no more a sign of respect than eating a popsicle. he is excited not by the outward but by the inward. if i'm going to make an outward sign of reverence it wont be taking off a hat it'll be something like lying facedown on the ground in awe and wonder...i dont really want to do it half-assedly. having said that, we began to pray. i looked around the room expecting the usual glances that say "please remove the hat or god wont listen to you...or the rest of us because we're in your heathen presence". but i didnt get any. this is one of the strongest moments of not being judged i have ever felt. probably because i was really expecting it from somewhere but it came from no one. i love the way that the staff really responds christlikely a lot. i know that i've worn the hat in other circles out of spite of its removals lack of importance to me. and i was probably in the wrong there...but as i just happened to be wearing it today and no one reminded me to take it off, i left it on. and i just want to say thank you. i love you all for not saying, "the only way to speak to god is by bowing a head, closing some eyes, removing all head coverings, and clasping your hands together." in fact you said to me, in a really refreshing way, "come to god however you are" period. so thanks...even those of you that werent there today....because you have more important thing in your life than god...or you were in a car wreck.

Posted in: on Thursday, April 13, 2006 at at 12:08 AM