I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That's a mouthful, so I usually just say I'm a Mormon. Much easier. A couple weeks ago, the Church released a video that really surprised me. It was a video about something that I hold very near and dear: garments. You may know them as "the weird underwear that Mormons wear all the time." The intent of the video was to explain garments to everyone who has ever asked themselves "why do they do that?" And I think it was fantastic.
Last year, a friend of mine asked me about my garments. Since it is not something I generally talk about, I really bungled the response. So, if you are reading, I'd like a mulligan. The question was "why underwear?"
It is a good question that I honestly had not thought a lot about. Why choose that article of clothing in particular to be the symbol of my devotion to God? Well, the nice thing about symbols is that there doesn't have to be one right answer. It can mean different things to different people. I've had a year to think about it, and this is what it means to me.
Underwear could be fairly described as the dirtiest article of clothing. It is the one against your skin that gets all the sweat and oils and whatnot. It touches all the parts of your body that you have to keep covered in public. And God takes that most profane, filthy thing and makes it sacred. In the same way, God can take the dirtiest parts of my life and make them clean, as described by the prophet Isaiah:
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
He can make me, the vilest of sinners, pure and holy.
And that is a beautiful thing. That, to me, is why the garment is underwear.
Thanks for this David.
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