Collared!

Yesterday I conducted the funeral of the woman I mentioned in an earlier blog. We were able to express our appreciation for her life and commend her to God's eternal care.

I wore a clerical collar and a suit, funerals being virtually the only occasion now when I wear clerical garb. While some denominations require it while the clergy are on duty, few United Church ministers wear a collar regularly and some never do. I bought a couple of new ones recently, my others getting rather worn, and was shocked to discover that they were $54 each. I wonder if the uniforms at MacDonald's cost that much?

The service was in the morning, so I ended up wearing the black clerical shirt with the white collar for the rest of the day. It happened that I was called to the hospital to respond to another pastoral crisis, and I still had it on when I went to the public library. It always surprises me that people respond with deference, especially in this secular age. Individuals will say hello or smile. A boy of twelve or thirteen opened both doors for me at the library!

Obviously the collar stands for something that is not always negative in a culture that is often suspicious of religion, and sometimes for good reason. It's been said that the collar was taken from the slave collars of an earlier time, as a graphic reminder that clergy are servants of Christ.

All I know is that they just aren't very comfortable, and I would just as soon not draw attention to myself. But they seem to represent something or someone, even in this day and age.