Dress For Success

Look closely...

We live in a world where people judge by outer appearance.

A smoothly finished coat of paint.

Tiles lining up perfectly on a kitchen or bathroom floor.

An artistically symmetrical landscape not overcrowded.

The attire of people.

The painter's hand brush, the mason's plumb line, the landscaper's imagination for eventual plant growth...and the choices people make in what to wear.

Of course, these four examples are from certain places in the world.

They are not universal...even the last one about clothes.

Some places are lucky to find paint, let alone be able to afford the supplies to paint with.

Other places do not culturally have different changes of clothes per-say.

No such thing as wearing jeans one day, slacks the next, and shorts another day.

Every day is the same looking outerwear.

Sure, much how hopefully one doesn't wear the same underwear day after day, so also do most people not wear the same outerwear day after day without regular washing.

Much how the suit is a western archetype for menswear, the kaftan, or thawb, or chapan, or deel, or kanzu, etc., is the archetype for menswear in particular societies around the world.

Where I currently reside, I argue the t-shirt and shorts can be seen as the archetype for both men and women.

At first glance you see uniformity wherever you are in the world.

Looking closer, you see the material or the name brand the clothes are made of.

Here you find the economic factor that may elude to class, prestige, position.

But do the 'clothes' really 'make the man'?

Yes and no.

At first glance, the clothes do say something about the individual.

Looking closer, the clothes may tell more of a story.

But once that person opens their mouth and speaks, you may be made aware of who they are.

Why should fools have money in hand to buy wisdom, 

when they are not able to understand it? 

- Proverbs 17: 16 

Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, 

and discerning if they hold their tongues. 

- Proverbs 17: 28

Plenty of wealthy people wearing expensive clothes yet are poverty stricken inside.

Plenty of poverty stricken people wearing rags who are wealthy on the inside.

And points in between, proving poor people being also poor inside, and wealthy people being wealthy inside.

The prosperity gospel isn't only preached through a Christian paradigm; prosperity is universally preached as favor from God (or the gods depending on which society you visit).

But does the material world you currently manage prove your inner wealth or God's favor upon you?

The actual prosperity Gospel is mentioned here, and here and also here.

As you can read in those citations, the issue of dressing for success isn't always an external issue.

It is all internal, of the heart and the spirit influencing the heart.

Dressing nicely doesn't hurt, yet it cannot fool others for too long when the outer appearance doesn't reflect the inner reality.

This is where religious people are easily exposed.

When heat is applied to their lives, the cracks in their armor (or lack of) show glaringly.

Dressing for success is making sure you are truly wearing the wedding clothes (a spiritual state).

The wedding clothes cannot be purchased at Macy's, nor Walmart..nor can they be sown at home from expensive materials purchased at your local bazaar, market or arcade.