From Sunday’s lectionary, this start to the deuterocanonical Baruch reading, “5:1 Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, O Jerusalem, and put on forever the beauty of the glory from God.” Of course what is inside mattters a lot, but don’t underestimate the influence of what clothes we wear. Changing our clothes can be a powerful symbolic action. Elsewhere, Paul invites his readers to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:14) and uses the same metaphor in a number of places. His hope is that what we ‘put on’ will influence what’s inside us.
So, it’s Advent: get ready to put on your glad rags.