Scripps Sundays

Thank you to Priya Parker for this fabulous article!! 7 Secrets of a Highly Successful Dress Code I have always been fascinated by the deft use of a good dress code. Why is it that some dress codes feel delightful, while others feel oppressive? What's the difference between a sartorial theme that sparks amusement versus anxiety? At its most basic, a dress code is a directive or a request from a host to their guests on attire for an event. Dress codes can unite a disparate group of people who don’t share the same social codes. They can also completely backfire. If gathering is about the navigation of power and connection in a group for a purpose, there’s no better learning site for us aspiring artful gatherers than dress codes. And what better time to explore the idea of a dress code than Halloween? So, without further ado, here's what I think dress codes that work get right: 1. A good dress code primes your guest. For a 40th Birthday party, a host requested the following attire...

  a blessing for the start of a new school year: The year is tilting toward the start of school again, but truth be told, we’re not ready. We’re still hanging on to summer, to the promise it held for long-awaited connections and celebrations, for refreshment for our bodies and souls in water and sky and color and sunlight, and all those little moments given to us where we could linger just a little longer. Now that it’s almost over, we don’t want to let it go. The beauty. The freedom. All that was life-giving. God, could you help us stretch it, extend it, and maybe even blend it into this coming school year? Parents, students, teachers, all, may your newly-structured days breathe with creativity, your new duties be infused with delight. As you write on those fresh new calendars may you trust that your plans are a lot like magic ink. Much may seem to disappear into obscurity, but whatever is done in love will remain. -Kate Bowler 

Recline with us today, Lord. Show us how to relax our shoulders, breathe deep-- place a tender hand on our clenched jaws. Help us to befriend our bodies today. That we would hold space for every needing thing within us And look on it with curiosity and kindness. Grant us this salvation- this holy pause. -Cole Arthur Riley, Black Liturgies