IT seems that clothes are important. I write this in the aftermath of the Daily Mail’s outrageous piece about Angela Rayner MP and how she dresses. When even our clothes can be turned against us, perhaps it is time for everyone to have a long hard look in the mirror. The ugly slurs, accusations of classism and veiled implications about an MP’s character should bring shame to us all – this is how far we have sunk, that the most popular Sunday newspaper in the country can engage this way.

On reflection though, we see something of our tendency to judge others based on our interpretation of their appearance. What we see says something about who we are, not just the thing we look at. This is why it is important we attend to our inside ‘appearance’ as well as our outside.

In the Bible it says,

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

Our clothing here is about something so much more important than our dress. It’s about what kind of people we are, and what people can’t help but see when they look at us. It’s about the way we look at others and the way we look in the mirror at ourselves.

It’s so easy to be trite or sanctimonious about this, but that would be a superficial response. What is being talked about here is almost impossible, but would transform our world. It would set us apart from the dross we see around us and truly bring a lighter way of being into our relationships, our labours and our politics. Imagine what difference it would make if we just put on one of these items of clothing – imagine being truly humble for just one day, or truly gentle with those you meet, or truly patient while driving to work, or just plain old kind.

These five items of clothing for our souls are the beginnings of a rainbow which has the power to stretch across our entire world. They may feel impossible, but we can, and should, dream.

We may be painfully aware of our short-comings as we look into the mirror, but that’s why it talks of God’s chosen people, dearly loved. God has taken our failures and restored us as a people who can try again. What we can never do is settle for less. To do this would be to grant ourselves power to judge people and interpret them from our own petty viewpoint, rather than from the standpoint of holiness. They may look big on me, but I’d rather try to wear robes of holiness than rags of pettiness.