Mark Katrick faith column: Fall closet cleaning can help those who are less fortunate
It's that time of year to perform the annual ritual I call "Keep, Coordinate or Donate." You're probably thinking, "Doesn't a person do this sort of thing in the spring, when you're way past ready to trade in your winter clothing for something fresh and new?"
The logic in your thinking is impeccable. The best time to add/subtract from your wardrobe is after the forsythia blooms and we've had our third and (hopefully) last snowfall. But for me, the better time is after the first hard freeze, usually at the end of October.
In case you didn't know, preachers are rather particular about matching up pants, shirts and ties with robes and stoles. For example, when you're wearing a bright red stole on Pentecost Sunday, you'll want to keep that green tie tucked away on the rack, or you'll look like a walking, talking Christmas tree ornament.
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This whole process has gotten less involved since after COVID. I've followed the lead of my congregations and stopped wearing ties, except on those C&E (Christmas and Easter) Days. The same goes for robes. Since sports jackets are predominantly neutral, any of the liturgical colors (blue, purple, green, red and white) match up well with these.
No matter what season we do these sortings-in and sortings-out, it's always a jaw-dropping experience to realize how many things we keep that hardly ever get worn. Our closets must breathe huge sighs of relief when we load our cars up with donations.
It was a lot less complicated process when Mom took me shopping for school clothes at the May Company department store in the Sheffield Shopping Center. It was simply a matter of replacing one set of standard issue of black pants, white shirts and clip-on ties with another.
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As the weather turns sharply colder, these words from Matthew 25:35-37, come to light and life: "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me."
The real reason we should be spending more time contemplating our outfits and wardrobes is because Jesus wants and needs us to simplify our lives, so the lives of the "least of these" can be far less complicated. For some ongoing and unexplainable reason (because the Creator has generously so gifted creation with the basic necessities), there are men, women and children, right in our own front and backyards, who don't have adequate clothing, food and shelter.
Because the Divine-human One is more than aware of their pain — "Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me" (Matthew 25:45) — He feels it too. And so should we.
Mark Katrick is a pastor and spiritual guide.
This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Mark Katrick faith column: Fall closet cleaning can help those in need
