“There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes.” This phrase hails from Scandinavia, where it’s a common mantra repeated by parents who insist that their children spend time outdoors every day.

I thought about that saying as I prepared for my morning walk.  There was, most certainly, a bit of a nip in the air. Being from Minnesota, however, I have a wide variety of clothes from which I may choose to match the conditions. I chose a lighter insulated jacket and decided to forgo the winter cap, knowing that I had a trusty hood on my jacket if needed. It’s only mid October, for goodness sake, and I need to build up my winter stamina! Though as the days become cooler, I am confident that I will need to break out the much warmer jackets, the snowpants, the winter caps, the mittens, the snow boots, the ice tracks, and, if we are exceptionally lucky this year, the snowshoes! What a blessing, albeit challenge, is this thing we call a Minnesota Winter!

In writing to the Church in Ephesus, Paul exhorts the believers to “put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

That’s a lot of stuff.  We folk from Minnesota, with all of our winter clothes and gear, have nothing on the Ephesians!

Life is difficult, right?  I mean, it’s beautiful too, but sometimes it’s hard to get through the day because of all of the brokenness of our lives. And just as it takes the right clothes and gear to thrive in a Minnesota winter, so it takes the right stuff of God to survive and flourish in a world beset with slings and arrows and challenges and battles.  

God loves us so much that not only has God already won the world from everlasting brokenness and death, God also provides us with the stuff necessary to be joyful in our lives and useful to the Kingdom.  The belt of truth, a breastplate of righteousness, special shoes of readiness and peace, the shield of faith, a helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. That’s some good stuff, and all of it is given freely and readily by the One who loves us.

So, before you step out into the upcoming Minnesota winter, put on your winter boots and mittens and jacket and hat.  And before you go forth into this beautifully formed yet impossibly broken world, put on the stuff of God.     

~Father Art