The Jesus hat

I have fun wearing my Santa hat during this season. It's always neat to see some little kid's eyes get big when I walk in a store or restaurant. And when I wear it some place I regularly go, like the recording studio, or the dentist's office, there is a lot of comment and joking about being naughty or nice. Occasionally there's even a photo op. The other evening I wore it into Chuy's and an elderly gentleman (all things are relative) came over to the table and thanked me for wearing the hat. He said it brought some joy to the place, and he just liked seeing it.

But there are some places and circumstances where the hat makes me a little uncomfortable. Like when I pull up to a stop sign wearing the hat and there's a panhandler standing on the corner. Now, it is not my custom to accommodate panhandlers. You may disagree with me on that, but that is my position. So there I sit, and the dude is looking at me, and looking at the hat and I know he's thinking, "You're a phony. You ain't living up to the hat."

So the other day, after one of these experiences, it occurred to me, "What if - instead of Santa hats - we all wore Jesus hats?" You know, hats that clearly and loudly identify us as followers of Jesus. Hats that proclaim we have chosen a life as a follower, a representative, a servant.

Where would we be uncomfortable wearing a Jesus hat? Almost everywhere? Who would look at us and say, " Phoney!" Excuse me while I try to slip onto the back row here, where I might be less noticible.

Join me as I reflect on the reason for the season and ponder my choice of wearing apparel for the coming year.