The Ramblings of Weesatch Joe

In just a few more days, our two LCMS seminaries will be placing interns (vicars) into a year-long immersion program and 4th year soon-to-be graduates in their first congregation. Led by the Holy Spirit, after prayerful consideration, the two schools will be sending these men out all across the country and, in a few cases, the world. This year marks the 25th year since I received my placement to Grace Lutheran Church in Crockett, Texas. A lot of (baptismal) water has flowed under the bridge since then. I've married and buried; baptized and confirmed; laughed, cried, and been absolutely silent in the holiness of the moment. I have lost track of the miles traveled to hospitals, nursing homes, and houses, the hours of meetings, and phone conversations. Needless to say, the number is somewhere between "a lot" and "a whole bunch." I will be eternally grateful to those people in East Texas who were patient with a certain, know-it-all rookie who quickly realized just ...

Superman wears a cape. Batman wears tights and a toolbelt (a Batbelt?). Spiderman wears a onsie with a hood. All hide their mild-mannered personas under tight-fitting spandex. Me? I hide inside a clerical shirt.  A clerical shirt is a fancy name for the traditional shirt worh by clergymen. Traditionally black, the shirt has a unique style unlike any other garment: it has a black flap that covers the buttons, a stitched-down, ringed collar, with either a white tab insert or a full, button-in white "dog collar" ring. The clerical shirt, or just "clerical," for short, identifies his vocation as much as a white jacket marks a doctor or a badge and 5.11 pants announce the presence of a cop. No one else wears a clerical shirt except, perhaps, a kid at Halloween who wants to be like his pastor. While the clerical can be had in almost any color or pattern (I did have one with maroon stripes, once, because it was on clearance), the traditional black is less the fashion state...