A Reflection for the Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent

In today’s reading from Isaiah 1, I keep coming back to the ending of verse 18: “Though [your sins] be red like crimson they may become as white as wool.” Perhaps it’s frivolous of me, but the striking comparative visuals of this verse make me think of dyes and fibers, textiles and fashion. We are only a few weeks removed from Paris Fashion Week, after all.

All around campus, I’ve noticed that many folks are putting aside their pandemic uniforms of sweats and yoga pants and are giving their wardrobes makeovers. Fashion trends from my time in high school are back, much to my surprise (late 90s and Y2K, if you must ask). I’ve spotted bellbottoms and platform Mary Janes, the oversized sweater and the spaghetti strap tank—and to my deepest amazement and joy, the tiny but wonderful butterfly clip.

Though on first encounter, I often find myself cringing and asking “Gosh, why has this come back? What was I thinking to follow that trend in the first place?” Then I catch myself. I loved wearing my bellbottoms and platform Mary Janes. And it was so much fun to nestle butterfly clips into my long hair as I got ready for school in the morning.

If I found pleasure in wearing such things, shouldn’t I rejoice that others are now discovering that pleasure as well? If I’m being honest, my cringe reaction isn’t so much about what I was wearing, but what I was doing while I was rocking those butterfly clips. Seeing all these high school fashions again not only transports me back to the joys of that period in my life, but it also reminds me of the mistakes and heartbreaks and insecurities I experienced. I was wearing butterfly clips when I became the first-chair flute player in my high school’s orchestra after many hours and days of nervous, anxious practicing; I was also wearing butterfly clips when I got a B in typing and couldn’t find the words to tell my crush that I like-liked him…for three years.

Yet, as the Lord says at the beginning of verse 18, “Come now, let us set things right.” Even through our mistakes, heartbreaks and insecurities, God is ready to help us stop, wash and try again. We are given another chance, at any age. I’d like to think that the white wool this verse is referring to is new wool. New wool is freshly shorn from the sheep, washed and combed. It has never been spun or turned into a textile before. New wool is ready to be transformed into something new (yes, even one of those oversized sweaters). What a humbling gift God gives us to have such moments of transformation in our lives over, and over, and over again.

And I think that is the sort “life makeover” that will always be on trend.