The What & Why of 'Plain Dress'

Written by Lisa Geisler. You may re-print all or in part only with permission

Part I

A Brief Essay on ‘Plain Dress’

Religion does not consist in bodily conformity, or plainness of apparel, but is in and from the heart, and not in the outward clothing, yet true religion leads into simplicity in all outward things. ~ Joseph Pike, Dress and Worldly Compliance Addressed, originally published in 1726

A few common thoughts regarding Plain Dress

Why is it practiced among religious groups?
Unity, humility, modesty and the avoidance of pride and individualism (as in displaying one’s wealth through clothing) is the central theme of plain dressing. Plain clothing is one of several reminders of the brotherhood bond a religious community has one to another.

Benefits of Plain Dressing?
Plain dress (if made properly), does not draw attention to the body so much, so then people can focus on your face and God’s Spirit and joy coming from inside. Reflects the inward quietness of a person’s spirit which does not naturally tend towards outward adornment.
Plain Dress can act to some extent as a protection against the world and its ways. Such dress can act as a reminder to the wearer of the pure and chaste life to which we are called. In the sex-oriented world we live in, a woman’s plainness can be a hedge against such bald and banal behavior. Plainness serves as a warning sign and a declaration of modesty before the world.

Simplicity. For me and many others, a side effect of plain dress. I would much rather be doing something constructive, such as working or learning in some capacity, than roaming a store looking for a particular garment, in a certain style or color. There is not the ‘What should I wear’ dilemma daily, other than what certain dress should be worn.

It is a waste of time and money for which Christian women can hardly fail to find better employment, to condescend to be perpetually changing the fashion of one's garments in obedience to the caprice or the restlessness of the multitude.

~Caroline Stephen, Quaker, Printed in 1907

Do I present myself as 'Holier Than Thou?

Quite the opposite, actually. Plain dress acts as a humiliation to our own pride: The world tells us “look out for number one, be a leader, be a self-promoter, blow thy own trumpet, stand out in the crowd, it’s all about you!” Thus the various styles of clothing found today. My own experience in being called to plainness is that it proved a humbling down, a firm lesson in humility. I seem to require plain dress because I may think of myself as too self-important, perhaps too intellectual, at times a bit too independent. Plain dress inhibits in me many traits that are quite unbecoming in God’s eyes, that I need to work on daily.
 

If there is one useful thing I have learnt (the hard way), it is the uselessness of just putting oneself into a ‘plain regime’. This rapidly becomes a self-willed world of empty works. The authentic plain life is not so much an emptying out of worldliness, but on the contrary, a filling up with Christ’s Spirit which in turn gives us something so enriching and beautiful that the things of the world, the colorful adornments and affectations of the wealthy, pale in comparison. ~Simon Watson, Quaker
 

An Often Heard Argument Against Plain Dress…Is it Legalism?
If plain dress leads us to pharisaic pride, so that we pray: “God, thank you I am not like other men – robbers, evildoers, adulterers – or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get,” we should in no way be wearing it. We must always remember that we, like all people, are poor, broken, helpless, lost people without Christ Jesus. If inwardly we are not on our knees praying “Lord, have mercy on me, a poor sinner” (Luke 18:9-14), we should put aside our plain dress until we pray about the matter and humble ourselves before the Lord.

 

"Do not stupidly and senselessly call holiness legalism - a silly, meaningless word. Be not afraid of being under the law of God. Rather, fear being under 'the law of sin' Romans 7:23. Love the strictest preaching best. That which most searches the heart, and shows you wherein you are unlike Christ. That which presses you most to love Him with all your heart, and serve Him with all your strength".

~A writing by John Wesley, A Blow at the Root.

Heb. 12:10..."Follow.....holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord."

 

Jonathan Edwards said... "Holiness is universal agreement with the will of God in behavior and attitudes."

A thought… Does God look on the outside? In Isaiah 3: 16-26 He names 21 ornaments of pride.

 

A Brief Time-Line of Plain Dress

 

1693, a conservative Swiss, Jacob Amman, preached an even more austere brand of Anabaptism, urging beards for married men, plain dress for both sexes, and shunning from the community for those not adhering to the rules. Amman's preaching split the Anabaptist community, and those that followed him became known as Amish. Eventually both the Mennonites and Amish were driven from Europe for their beliefs, particularly for their resistance to military service.

1693 - Simple Dress ...Pennsylvania had no official dress code, but in 1693 William Penn instructed the colonists on clothes by writing, “The more simple and plain they are, the better. Neither unshapely, nor fantastical, and for use and decency and not for pride.” Fashionable items that the Quakers rejected included cocked hats, twisted neck cloths, useless holes, buttons, and pockets, wide cuffs, excess lace, large buckles, colored linings, broad hems, and wide skirts.

1726- Original publication date of "Dress and Worldly Compliance Addressed", by Joseph Pike, Quaker. Read the booklet here. It appears that the early Quakers, known for their simplicity of attire, were wandering a bit from their simplicity in several areas of living.

Charles Finney (August 1792-August 1875)

Charles Finney Confesses!
The question now regards fashion, in dress, equipage, and so on. And here I will confess that I was formerly myself in error. I believed, and I taught, that the best way for Christians to pursue, was to dress so as not to be noticed, to follow the fashions and changes so as not to appear singular, and that nobody would be led to think of their being different from others in these particulars. But I have seen, my error, and now wonder greatly at my former blindness. It is your duty to dress so plain as to show to the world, that you place no sort of reliance in the things of fashion, and set no value at all on them, but despise and neglect them altogether. But unless you are singular, unless you separate yourselves from the fashions of the world, you show that you do value them. There is no way in which you can bear a proper testimony by your lives against the fashions of the world, but by dressing plain.

Charles G. Finney’s Lectures to Professing Christians, p. 146. was a Presbyterian and Congregationalist figure in the second Great Awakening. He is also known for his use of ‘extemporaneous preaching’.

1800’s - In the early 1800’s, ready-made clothing became cheap and easily available. Plain people saw danger in letting the whims of worldly fashion dictate what they as Christians should wear. They continued to observe the time-honored simple dress which had become a symbol of humility. After the period of persecution and sumptuary laws that plain clothing began to develop into its present form. ~Stephen Scott, Why Do They Dress That Way?, published in 1986.

1880’s - Revival of plain dress among Mennonites started and it has been said by scholars to have been an effort to provide a means of separation from the world which the German language had provided before this time.

1920’s - Revealing fashions were introduced which even mainline Protestants and civil magistrates tried to dispel. Most sociologists agree that this disintegrating of traditional standards of decency was brought about by WWI and the impact it had on society.

As late as 1920 the police in Sarasota, FL took some women off the street because they were wearing no stockings. ~ "Personal Appearance in Light of God’s Word", by Lloyd Hartzler.

Onward - Due to the 'casualness' of society, perhaps culminating in the turmoil of the 1960's, plain dress is becoming less and less.

What other religious groups have and/or still dress plain? Many. Amish, Mennonites, Conservative/Plain Quakers, Shakers, Holiness Movement (came out of 19th century Methodism), Pentecostal Movements, Old German Baptist Brethren and other Old Order Brethren Groups such as the River Brethren, Russian Old Believers, Molokans, and Doukhobors, and esp. Catholic Orders, inc. Priests and Nuns and Old Order Jewish Traditions, such as the Hasidic Jews.

Joy of the Lord

"The joy of the Lord is my strength." - Nehemiah 4:8-10
Could the scripture just as easily have said the happiness of the Lord is my strength?

Seems to me there's a distinct difference. But allow me to backtrack a bit to describe just how I found myself pondering on what some might, at first glance, dismiss as a question of semantics. After all, joy or happiness seems pretty much the same.

Here's how it all got started. A man approached me after the sermon a
couple of Sundays back and asked offhandedly: "Well, is the Lord
taking care of you? You're happy? And things are going your way?"

I hesitated a bit and, for some reason, did not simply offer a casual
reply. Instead, I answered each question. "Yes, the Lord is taking
care of me. There's no doubt in my mind about that. But, no, I'm not
particularly happy. And most things do not appear to be going my way
at the present."

My response was more than my acquaintance had wanted, for sure. And
we talked it out for a bit and all ended well, but the thought had started for me.

Once a week I have the privilege of serving in an Amish practice my
wife and I have developed. Among the families I serve on a "house
calls" only basis is a man and his wife and their five children. Two
of the children, ages 6 and 8, are severely challenged with cerebral
palsy and require constant care of the most basic sort. They must be
fed one bite at a time. They must be clothed and bathed daily. And
they must be transported, as both are wheel chair ridden. There are
no hired hands - no nurses or nannies. The Amish man and his wife are
also dairy farmers which is a twice a day, seven days a week
enterprise. Need I say these people are busy? Burdened is more
descript.

Without fail, I seem to mention to these two parents how impressed I
continue to be with their stamina and determination. Their wearied
countenances belie the pleasant manner in which they conduct
themselves. For some reason, on this particular visit, I mentioned to
the man that I had been tossing around in my mind the definitions of
happiness and joy.

To my surprise, the Amish dairyman, normally reserved in nature,
uncharacteristically pounced on the subject. "Well, there's
difference alright. Let me tell you." I let him.

"Happiness usually comes out of your circumstances. You know, when
things are going your way, so to speak. Joy, on the other hand, comes
from knowing God's in charge no matter what the circumstances."

This is a man, I thought to myself, who knows from whence he speaks.
I could see he was not finished. So I let him continue.

"Now, the devil likes to work your circumstances to take the smile
off your face. He wants you unhappy. That way he figures he can
weaken your walk with the Lord. My wife and I figure the best way to
defeat that old codger is to keep it in mind that he wants us
unhappy. So we figure God gave us these kids and in the condition
they're in for a reason. The Book says His ways are higher than our
ways. His thoughts, higher than our thoughts. If God wants it this
way then we best find a way to appreciate ourselves. That's what I'd
call joy. Happiness? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Sometimes we're
just bone tired of the whole picture. But the joy comes in knowing
that God's in control."

I was both speechless and convinced. This man had obviously been
working for quite some time on finding joy in the midst of his
surroundings. The model these two parents had shown me down through
the years left me without argument. If their example was proof
enough, then there definitely is a difference between happiness and
joy.

My next patient was himself a bishop in the Amish settlement. An
elderly man, he had suffered an aneurysm at a fortuitous moment, I
might add, while visiting a friend in the hospital. Because he was in
the hospital, his life had been spared. "Right place at the right
time," the bishop had told me once when I visited him during his
recovery. On this particular day, I mentioned to him that his color
was particularly good and that he was carrying himself with renewed
strength and confidence.

"You're looking fit and fiddle," I said.

"Fiddle's more like it," he joked.

Then he shared with me how there was a time during the darkest hours
of his setback that he had actually wished it were over, that he
could have gone to his eternal resting place.

"That bad?"

Yes, that bad," replied the bishop. "I was hurting so and the fatigue
was so heavy that I just wished that the aneurysm had hit me harder
or at a different place and time."

The man walked outside with me as I prepared to depart from his home,
having adjusted him, his wife, and two daughters. Out in the lane, a
group of five or six kittens were tumbling each other about as the
mother lay out flat in the gravel.

"Ornery little things," the Amish man said with a grin, gesturing
toward the newborns.

"Yes… and it sure is good to see you smiling and happy," I said.
Which, of course, renewed my pursuit of the difference between joy
and happiness. I asked, "Do you find there's a difference between joy
and happiness?"

"Oh, yes. Yes, I do."

The bishop told of a "car wedding" he had once gone to. "You know, a
how do you say it a 'ceremony' conducted by a preacher who wasn't
Amish," he explained. Anyway, I'll never forget his statement to the
couple. He prayed that they would "find joy amidst their sorrows."

There it was again, I thought to myself. The joy of knowing that a
sovereign God is in charge regardless of circumstances or how things
appear.

My appreciation for the difference between the two words joy and
happiness might best be summed up during a wake I attended for a
blonde haired, blue-eyed, 4-year old Amish girl who had died from
morphine intoxication administered during what many today consider as
routine surgery -tonsillectomy. Which, seems to me, begs the
question: "How do we factor in cultural differences and any fears or
misgivings those might evoke in a patient prior to the administration
of anesthetic?" I had seen the girl the week prior to the scheduled
surgery and I was not particularly pleased with the parent's decision
to proceed, but their minds were made up after months and months of
tonsillitis in their child. It was not a visitation I was looking
forward to, but I had received a phone call, detailing the times and
place which, of course, was the home and felt "called" to be there.

At the open casket, I lost composure and began to shake a bit in the
room full of men dressed in black and white and women in plain, dark
dresses and bonnets. The child's grandfather who had been seated
right near the casket immediately stood and rested a hand on my
shoulder with these words, "The Lord's in charge here. She's truly in
a better place."

I could see the joy, the strength, in this man's face. There was no
denying it. The joy of the Lord is his strength.

So, yes, indeed there is a difference between joy and happiness. The joy is knowing that God is always in charge, no matter the circumstances. Recognizing that joy can lead you to discover the thread of happiness that flows from it.

- - - - - - - - - -
The author: Dr. Will Tickel is a practicing chiropractor in southern
Ohio and Cincinnati who particularly enjoys his work among the Amish.
He is a published author of two books relating to health and healing.
He may be reached at willtickel@aol.com

January 4th - St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Day



1774-1821
Foundress-Sisters of Charity
Canonized by Pope Paul VI
September 14, 1975

St. Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton was born on August 28, 1774 to Richard Bayley and Catherine Charlton of New York City. She was raised in the Episcopal Church in the United States. Her mother, daughter of an Episcopal priest, died when Elizabeth was three years old.

At age 19 she married William Magee Seton, a wealthy businessman in the import trade. Five children were born to the marriage: Anna "Annina" Maria (1795-1812), William the Second, Richard Seton, Catherine Seton (1800-1891) a Sister of Mercy, and Rebecca Mary (1802-1816) whom Elizabeth called "my soul's sister".

Although busy with raising a large family and the management of their home, Seton continued to show the concern for the poor of the city which her father and stepmother had taught her. She helped to organize a group of prominent ladies who would visit the sick poor in their homes to render what aid they could. This circle was informally called the "Ladies of Charity" due to their conscious inspiration by the work of St. Vincent de Paul in 17th century France.

During a trip to Italy for her husband's health, he died there and Elizabeth and one of her children stayed two years in Italy with her husband's business partner and his family. It was in Italy that she was introduced to Catholicism. When returning back to the United States, she sought instruction in the faith and in 1805 entered the Catholic Church.

At the invitation of the Archbishop, she established a Catholic girl's school in Baltimore, which initiated the parochial school system in America. She also founded the Sisters of Charity.

One commentor says of her "Elizabeth Seton had no extraordinary gifts. She was not a mystic or stigmatic. She did not prophesy or speak in tounges." But it is perhaps her very "ordinariness" that makes her such a good model for stewardship. She put her whole life - all of her time, all of her talents, all of her treasure - at God's disposal, saying to her religious sisters, "The first end I propose in our daily work is to do the will of God; secondly, to do it in the manner He wills; and thirdly, to do it because it is his will." Such wholehearted devotion to the will of God is a sure recipe for good stewardship of the gifts we have received.

We must pray without ceasing, in every occurrence and employment of our
lives - that prayer which is rather a habit of lifting up the heart to God
as in a constant communication with Him .

~Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton

Seeking Solace, Finding Peace

For Those Who Long to Be Useful to God

Written by Quaker Jane, used with permission

I speak to thee, seeker of solace, not from a separate or superior place, but as one who has walked in similar shoes along similar paths. I sought solace, begged for peace, had faith in the possibility of happiness, as I longed for the seeingly endless heartache to stop and the healing to begin. I found peace, not comfort and ease, but peace in the midst of discomfort and dis-ease. I found compassion for myself and for others, residing in my heart, the Christ Within had kept a small hearth-fire burning, waiting in the depths of my heart for me to seek him out, waiting for me in the heart of my heart to find him, where he had been all along as I searched hither and thither and yon. Even as I outwardly rejected him, inwardly he was working on my heart, healing me, bringing me to the Truth and to peace and solace.

I speak to thee, she who desires to be useful to God, he who desires to be on the narrow path. That desire is a grace, and if followed in humility, these desires of thy soul for wholeness and healing will lead to submission to the Lord and his will for thee. Thy desires and longings will lead thee to become capable of discernment of the Lord's will for thee. The Lord has made thee capable of obedience, given thee the gift of the Light Within to illuminate thy path and brought thee the free gift of submission.

The healing has begun, child of God, infant in trust and patience. Mature thy trust, mature thy patience, and thee will see thy healing is happening in the Lord's time and in the Lord's way. That is where faith becomes powerful, where thee allows the Lord to do his work. He has set tasks before thee. Attend to those tasks, and set aside those he has not set before thee. Thee knows the difference, in thy heart. The mind is prone to confusion and dismay, but the heart is where the Truth resides, and where the Way is made clear.

Peace resides in the heart. It may be hard for thee to believe that something thee has sought with such energy in the world was available to thee the entire time, but so it is. It is within thee, and available to thee, at any time. Not just when things are going well, and not just when things are difficult. He is there, a companionable presence, a bracing presence, a loving presence, a stern presence. The Truth is all these things, each as thee needs them, each as thee requires. He will comfort, when it is time for comfort, and he will correct when it is time to correct. There is no comfort, nor correction, in the world and the world's ways to compare.

Traditional Quakers have tactics for finding the Christ Within, ways of preparing ourselves for submission and obedience to the Lord's will. The simplest and best first step to take is to set aside time each day to wait upon the Lord, to have a time of private retirement where there is no expectation for the time except that it be given to the Lord to use as he will. Pray if thee feels led. Read the Bible if thee feels led. But do not place any presumption upon the time, rather offer it to the Lord. Do not say, "I will do this" or "I will do that," rather say "I will do nothing until the Lord shows me to do it, and if he offers me nothing then I will do nothing." Remember Elijah (I Kings 19:11-13). Remember the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).

It is usual for those to whom I offer this tactic to say they don't feel comfortable sitting in silence for any length of time. At which point I suggest they are not yet desperate enough, that they have not reached the end of the seeking and questing. When they are desperate enough, I say, when the world and the world's answers have left them sufficiently battered and cold and with no other option at hand, then they may finally turn to the Christ Within. Then they may find the unbearable silence a better option than despair, finally prepared and ready for his healing and warmth. Or, I offer, they could give it a go now, just to see if they are able to find him before they have actually reached the end of their rope. It is painful reaching the end of one's rope, I suggest, and they have been sufficiently rattled to seek me out. The Lord appears to be offering them an opportunity. But, I say, it is their choice. And I say to thee, it is thy choice. All the love Christ has for thee is available to thee now, if thee can only reach out for it with an open heart. My compassion goes with thee, Friend or Neighbor, whatever thy choice and wherever it leads.

---

1 Kings 19:11-13 (KJV)

And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?

1 Kings 19:11-13 (New Jerusalem Bible) (not in original printing. Added by author of this Blog)

Then he was told, 'Go out and stand on the mountain before Yahweh.' For at that moment Yahweh was going by. A mighty hurricane split the mountains and shattered the rocks before Yahweh. But Yahweh was not in the hurricane. And after the hurricane, an earthquake. But Yahweh was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, fire. But Yahweh was not in the fire. And after the fire, a light murmuring sound. And when Elijah heard this, he covered his face with his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then a voice came to him, which said, 'What are you doing here, Elijah?'

Galatians 5:22-23 (KJV)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Taize Community in France

Bro. Roger Schutz

Brother Roger Schutz

Founder of Taizé, in France (1915-2005)

Soon after WWII, Roger Schutz, a Swiss-born Protestant pastor, founded an ecumenical monastic community on the site of an abandoned abbey in Taizé, France. From the beginning, he hoped that Taizé, which included both Catholic and Protestant brothers, would help to heal the rifts among Christians­ - a hope that achieved considerable success. Without seeking formal conversion, Brother Roger was warmly embraced by Catholic Church leaders, and he received communion several times from the hands of popes. As he noted, “I have found my own identity as a Christian by reconciling within myself the faith of my origins with the mystery of the Catholic faith, without breaking fellowship with anyone.”

At the same time, Taizé became a spiritual refuge for the youth of the world. Tens of thousands of young people flocked to Taizé each year to imbibe the spirit of prayer and spiritual renewal. They, in turn, carried the spirit of Taizé back into the world and across the globe.

Upon Brother Roger’s death on August 16, 2005, Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, observed: “Very few people in a generation manage to change the whole climate of a religious culture, but Brother Roger did just this. He changed the image of Christianity itself for countless young people; he changed the church’s perception of the absolute priority of reconciliation…And he did this without any position of hierarchical authority.”

“For whoever knows how to love, for whoever knows how to suffer, life is filled with serene beauty.” ~Brother Roger of Taizé

For more information, please view the article here, by BBC.

Stay With Me, Lord

Stay with me, Lord, for it is nec­es­sary to have You present so that I do not for­get You.You know how  eas­ily I aban­don You.

Stay with me, Lord, because I am weak and I need Your strength,that I may not fall so often.

Stay with me, Lord, for You are my life, and with­out You, I am with­out fervor.

Stay with me, Lord, for You are my light, and with­out You, I am in darkness.

Stay with me, Lord, to show me Your will.

Stay with me, Lord, so that I hear Your voice and fol­low You.

Stay with me, Lord, for I desire to love You very much, and always be in Your company.

Stay with me, Lord, if You wish me to be faith­ful to You.

Stay with me, Lord, for as poor as my soul is, I want it to be a place of con­so­la­tion for You, a nest of love.

Stay with me, Jesus, for it is get­ting late and the day is com­ing to a close, and life passes; death, judg­ment, eter­nity approaches. It is nec­es­sary to renew my strength, so that I will not stop along the way and for that, I need You. It is get­ting late and death approaches, I fear the dark­ness, the temp­ta­tions, the dry­ness, the cross, the sor­rows. O how I need You, my Jesus, in this night of exile!

Stay with me tonight, Jesus, in life with all it’s dan­gers. I need You. Let me rec­og­nize You as Your dis­ci­ples did at the break­ing of the bread, so that the Eucharis­tic Com­mu­nion be the Light which dis­perses the dark­ness, the force which sus­tains me, the unique joy of my heart.

Stay with me, Lord, because at the hour of my death, I want to remain united to You, if not by com­mu­nion, at least by grace and love.

Stay with me, Jesus, I do not ask for divine con­so­la­tion, because I do not merit it, but the gift of Your Pres­ence, oh yes, I ask this of You!

Stay with me, Lord, for it is You alone I look for, Your Love, Your Grace, Your Will, Your Heart, Your Spirit, because I love You and ask no other reward but to love You more and more.
With a firm love, I will love You with all my heart while on earth and con­tinue to love You per­fectly dur­ing all eter­nity. Amen

~Prayer of St. Pio of Pietrel­cina after Holy Communion