September 14, 2009

No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. 2 Timothy 2:4

So here I am at Homestead National Monument in Beatrice, Nebraska!

I arrived yesterday, in the middle of its Traditions Festival, and enjoyed music from different cultures all afternoon as I was moving in and acquainting myself with my surroundings. That night, I joined people from the town to watch a preview of Ken Burns’ national parks film, a six-part series on PBS which begins Sunday, September 27.

As a park worker, I’m allowed behind the scenes at the park facilities, and this morning I came across a fascinating poster on how a park ranger is to dress. Photos of all the different uniforms are displayed, accompanied by text explaining the exact requirements. For example, only brown-colored socks can be worn. T-shirts must never show. All caps and ranger hats have to sit two finger widths above the eyebrows. Pens and pencils can only protrude one-quarter of an inch above the breast pocket. There’s even mention of how shirts are to be buttoned!

Now maybe if you’ve served in the armed forces, none of this emphasis on specific dress is surprising to you. The uniforms are styled after the military for a reason: the earliest national park rangers were from the U.S. Army (and here’s an even more interesting bit of trivia: they were African-American Buffalo Soldiers. You can learn more about their work in the PBS series.). But to someone like me who is totally clueless about military life, this was all new.

Park rangers, I realized, just like the soldiers, need to project a certain image, one of authority. We tourists have to be able to trust rangers, as representatives of an agency of the federal government, to provide a safe, enjoyable and educational visit. Their precise, distinctive green and gray uniforms and hats serve to reinforce that message.

I had read the above verse from 2 Timothy last week as part of a study I was doing in that book, and staring at that poster brought it back to mind. Followers of Christ also should be distinctive. We must be trustworthy, “always prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks [us] to give the reason for the hope that [we] have” (1 Peter 3:15). Everything about us—our attitudes, what we say and do, and yes, even what we wear—needs to reflect who we represent.

I won’t be wearing a park ranger uniform while I’m here (good thing,  because I don’t have any brown socks!). But since I’m going to be surrounded by them for the next few week, they’ll be a good reminder that I need to “cloth [my]self with the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 13:14) because I’m Christ’s ambassador (2 Corinthians 5:20) wherever I go.

Next week: a little bit about the monologue I’m writing and will be performing (gulp!) next Sunday. You can read the press release here.