Dressing for the Weather

I remember being in college at Spring Arbor University in Michigan and getting so excited when there was a random 40 degree day in January. The campus was flooded with people. There would be students shoveling the outdoor basketball court for a pick up basketball game. The runners were no longer on treadmills and were outside running the streets in shorts and a t-shirt. Well, except for the crazy cross country guys. They were probably shirtless. It was like a summer day. This is what I will call dressing for the weather.

Here in Italy, or at least Catania, there is this unspoken rule that you dress for the calendar. I tried doing that today. It was almost 70 degrees. I went on a long walk in pants and a sweatshirt. I couldn’t take it. I finally got to a cafe and took off my sweatshirt as quickly as possible. Even as I sit here writing at said cafe, there are people walking around in winter coats. It doesn’t really matter the weather. If the calendar says it is still March, then you dress for March, no matter how warm it might be outside.

Okay, so what does this have to do with holiness? Good question. I’m glad you asked.

Ever since moving to Catania, I’ve been dressing for the calendar, but in a spiritual sense. I wake up and I try to live into the same habits and rhythms I had while living in the United States. The problem is, the spiritual weather forecast is not the same here.

Just like the physical seasons change around us, we often have changing seasons in our spiritual lives. If we simply live according to the calendar, we might be putting on the wrong clothes. The day might call for challenges we aren’t expecting. Kind of like leaving home without a raincoat or umbrella on a rainy day. You are going to get wet. And then you wont be comfortable the rest of the day. We need to stop living our spiritual lives according to the calendar. We need to pull out our spiritual weather app each morning (yes, I’m the person that checks the weather app often) and get dressed for the weather.

So what does dressing for the weather look like for me right now? It means listening to a lot of worship music. I’ve never been a big music guy. But with my mind having so much input every day with people speaking a different language around me constantly, I find reading books a challenge. So, music is my daily dose of hearing truth in a simple way. It means reading less of my Bible each day. Yes, you read that right. Less. As I said, I already have enough input each day to make my mind go crazy. Reading a smaller portion of Scripture and reflecting on it longer works in this season. It means praying and fasting on a more regular basis. The spiritual atmosphere is such here that I don’t really think I can live without fasting. This is a discipline I believe is important for all seasons, but it is becoming more important to me personally in this season. Another day I may expand on these. But for now you get the point.

What works for me in my current season may not work for you. Don’t use this as a model to replicate. But feel free to ask yourself the following question:

Have I checked my spiritual weather app today?

Make sure you got an umbrella or raincoat if it calls for rain.