In our
jammed-packed lives, we’re practically running from one event to another. Many
of us on campus are physically active as well, so it’s not uncommon in class to
see people in sport’s clothes coming from the gym or about to hit the track. But
how about during services?
I asked a Jewish friend of mine if being religious
shaped how she dressed. We agreed that as Jewish and Catholic students, we perhaps
dressed more conservatively than most, especially during services.
“But sometimes I
wear sports clothes to service, because I simply don’t have time to change
before,” Jane* said. And I agreed. Many other students, including myself, have shown
up to services a tad sweaty. I’d say there’s at least one person in sportswear
at our Sunday Mass.
“It’s something about the space too” Jane
commented, “We have services in the Hub [a public event space on campus], and
it’s not like going to Temple. Nor is the Chapel like going to Mass for you, I
bet. Knowing that during concerts a cappella groups drink beer on that alter makes
it, I don’t know, different.”
And she was
right. For me, the modest, white Protestant Chapel did not have the same amount
of sacredness for me as my home parish with its kneelers, stained glass, and
incense in the air.
For Jane and I,
the casual campus vibe and our busy, active lives pervade into our sacred
space. The spaces for our services were also more casual than what we were used
to, less traditional. Maybe that’s a reason why us students feel its ok to be
sporty and worship: the buildings themselves are such a mix of the typical “college
life” and the religious.
*name changed
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