It was superhero day, which I had forgotten until the notification dinged on my phone. I dashed to our nine-year-old’s closet to see what I could find for three of us to wear to show our support for the school spirit day. As I rifled through the closet, I found the superhero cape I had worn in a 5K over a decade ago that would work. I went to grab it, but instead grabbed the hangar behind it.
I pulled out my robe and stole.
Something I wore every week for ten years and something I hadn’t worn for six months. I paused just long enough to take a deep breath and realize just how much our day to day life had changed over the past school year. We had moved house, cities, and started new jobs.
My robe and stole were the last thing I moved in the fall. Sunday by Sunday, I left with books and commentaries packed into the back of my car as I drove back to our new home. My last Sunday in the pulpit, I draped my robe and stole over my arm just like the weeks I needed to bring them with me for an event during the week. But this Sunday was different. This Sunday I draped my robe and stole, brought them home, and hung them in my nine-year-old’s closet next to the dress up clothes.
I didn’t realize what I was doing at the time. Our new house didn’t have a coat closet, so we were using every inch of closet space we had. It wasn’t until superhero dress up day that I found it again. As I grabbed the superhero cape, I couldn’t stop the questions from flooding my mind.
Would I wear my robe and stole again soon or would it be awhile?
Why was my robe and stole next to the superhero cape?
Was the Spirit trying to reassure me?
I knew as I walked out the door with two superheroes following me that the work I was headed to in my Title 1 classroom was working towards justice and inclusion. Maybe it doesn’t matter whether you are wearing a robe and stole or a superhero cape. Maybe instead what matters is that there are as many of us as possible offering love and light to the world.