The Bishop came to give a message from the Stake President to the Relief Society women yesterday. He started off talking about the importance of wearing our garments appropriately. He went on to say that the Stake President has seen women walking at all times of the day in clothing that could clearly not allow them to be wearing garments. He said something to the effect of "Maybe, if you're training for a marathon or something, wearing garments could make it difficult in some way." He also said to make sure we don't lounge around in them after exercising. And that we should look for reasons to wear them rather than not wear them.
A couple weeks ago I would have heard this counsel and felt smug & superior (more or less of a sin than immodesty?), knowing I always wore my garments whenever not swimming or showering. That's what my mom always did, so that's what I felt was appropriate. Then at the beginning of the month I noticed my dad wearing shorts to run. I'd been having a hard time running in this yucky Utah heat (the average high temp over the last week is 93), or stressing & yelling at the kids to get out the door early enough that it wasn't totally unbearable. I decided if my dad felt okay with it than I did too.
So I went and bought two pairs of shorts & two tank tops. The shorts I got are pretty short, but I chose them only because they were $5.99 each instead of $10 or more for everything else. I tried on a cute exercise shirt with short sleeves, but the heat difference, even just in a fitting room at Target, was amazing. So I chose tank tops that are about as covering as tank tops can be, almost to the shoulder & neck. There were some really cute ones with much thinner straps, but I don't think the heat difference is much between the thick straps & the thin straps (nothing like the heat difference between having sleeves and not!), so I decided to go with the more covering ones to show that it really was just about comfort, not cuteness.
So I've been wearing them, now called my "running clothes," for a couple weeks. I usually get out to go running around 8:30-9:00, I'm out for about 20 minutes, then I cool down for a few minutes, then take a shower and get dressed. Well, Saturday I was planning on walking with a friend around 9:30, but we didn't get going until 11:15. And I mowed the lawn while I was waiting, so I was HOT! I didn't think I was physically able to go for a 3 mile walk (in the middle of the day, on a day with a high of 95!) in my sweat pants, without passing out or something, so I changed into my running clothes. I felt a little funny, but figured it was better to walk without garments than not walk at all.
Then the VERY NEXT DAY the Bishop comes in to talk about that! I felt like he was talking just to me! I felt like everyone who has seen me out in my running clothes was thinking "Ooooh, Rachel does that, she's a bad person." I don't know, maybe there are lots of other women taking casual strolls in skimpy clothes. It IS the middle of August in Utah, when it is about 90 degrees most days. It just felt like more than a coincidence that it was brought up so soon after I started taking off my garments to exercise.
I feel like what I'm doing is okay, but then I think "Oh no, am I just justifying myself?" I'll make an effort to make sure I walk early enough & without exercising right beforehand so I can wear my garments for walking. Even changing to thinner pants would have been better, I was wearing actual sweat pants, so maybe I need some better modest exercise clothes. But what about jogging? He pretty much said it wasn't okay for walking, but probably was for marathon training. There's quite the gray area between those! I would ultimately love to run a marathon, but at this point I'm only doing about a mile and a half. So if anything, I'm in the really, really, really early stages of training. But I personally feel okay wearing my running clothes for that purpose.
I know that the Stake President can receive Revelation for people under his jurisdiction. But is this Revelation, or just something he is worried about? And is there a difference in our need to follow it? I mean, if the Prophet were to come out and say "You should wear your garments whenever exercising." I would make that work. But is this maybe just a pet issue of the Stake Pres?
A couple years ago our Bishop at the time spent quite a while in Sacrament Meeting talking about how we need to make sure we drive really slowly in the neighborhoods, and also along the long straight road leading up to it. He gave some numbers about how driving fast down it only saves us 8 seconds or something. Anyways, we found out later that this is something he personally feels really strongly about, and years ago had put up a sign along the long straight road that says "Please Slow Down." That's kind of rude, that assumes that everyone needs to slow down - it would have been nicer to write "Please Go Slow" or something. And even though it's a great idea to follow the speed limits, it felt like he was taking advantage of his position to push is agenda. It wasn't something he was worrying about as a Bishop, it was just a pet peeve of his that he now had the opportunity to make it seem like it was coming from a higher power.
So, is it possible that this is a similar thing? Not that that makes it not important to wear our garments appropriately...geez this is hard to explain! I guess I mean, is it coming from him as a person or as the Stake President? And where along the range of strenuosity (okay, not a real word, but it fits here!) does he draw the line?
And now I feel like everyone is judging me for wearing my running clothes. Especially because I only ever walk in Kiowa Valley (our neighborhood), as my warm up and cool down. So are people peeking out their windows, seeing me walking by in my immodest clothes? If they see me on my return, it's clear that I've worked out pretty hard, but do they guess that I've been running or just assume I'm a wimp that gets that red & sweaty from a walk? And do people drive by while I'm cooling down, usually watering the flowers, and assume I just dress like that to do yard work? I guess ultimately it doesn't matter if other people judge me, but I also want to avoid the appearance of evil!
Well, if you're still reading, you have a lot of patience. I guess in a couple more weeks it'll cool down and I won't have to worry about this again until next summer. I really do want to do what's right, I just think it's a little ambiguous here. I guess Heavenly Father knows my heart, and that's the most important thing.
Now time to get ready to eat lunch, then take my grown up baby to his first day of Kindergarten!
Code Black
6 years ago
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7 comments:
HI,
I am Tami Hull's sister in law Terra. I enjoyed your blog this morning. It actually reminded me of the gospel Doctrine teacher yesterday.
We are in Alma and the sons of Helaman and how they we Obedient in everything that Helaman said.The teacher is studying to be a lawyer and he loves asking thoughtful questions. Yesterday he asked "If your stake president came out and asked you to do something that seemed strange to you, what would you do?"
My reply, is what the first presidency has alway taught from the beginning of time: We should pray about it and find out for ourselves if it is true, for the LORD will never lead us astray!
I know that isn't what he was looking for. He wanted me to say that we should have strict obedience like the sons of Helaman did, but as you basically said, they are just human, and "Is this just a pet peve or is this revelation from God?"
The only way to find out is 1st to go online to LDS.ORG AND RESEARCH what the first pres. has said about the wearing of the garments, and second to pray about it and to get your own testimony of what is really true and what God really wants.
I don't know if this helps or not, but I do know this, God does hear and answer prayers through the still small voice, and I am sure you will know for yourself and you won't have to feel like anyone is pointing fingers at you.
FYI, just the thought of running a mile in a half at one time would make me want to pass out!
hehe.
Good luck!
Terra
I don't wear my garments when exercising. It makes me uncomfortably hot and then I start getting mad about having to wear them, so I figure it's better to take them off and not get mad at them. It sounds like it's more of a personal thing especially since they justify marathon training. I mean, I guess he's also saying that going on walks or jogging isn't as good of exercise as training for a marathon. Besides, marathon training would mean you'd be out of your garments even longer than if you go for a short jog. Maybe my perception of this is tainted by the fact that I am going to school to get a kinesiology degree and place a high importance on exercise because it keeps you healthy, which benefits your life in every way. I think the fact that it was brought up in relief society, not in sacrament meeting is targeting only the women, which can only mean it's a personal belief and doesn't feel like it's necessary for the whole ward to hear. But I think if in order to exercise and get the benefits from it (and not heat stroke), and that means to some people taking off their garments, then it's fine. When I was endowed, they were very UNspecific about exercising and stuff. I think you're just fine in your modest immodest clothes, if that makes sense.
Here is the kicker...it only gets harder and harder along the marathon training schedule. When you are training for a marathon, and you get to the point where you are doing 20 mile training runs, if you don't leave until 9:00 in the morning and average 11 minute miles, your run lasts over 3 ½ hours which puts you in the afternoon already. Add the dehydration to the 90+ degree weather…you know that picture that you commented on my blog about me running in a jog bra? Well, try racing (so…faster and harder than a training run), uphill pretty much the whole way for a 6 mile race, in the middle of the afternoon, trying to get a good time and beat the other runners. You are so exhausted that your mind can hardly handle simple thoughts like multiplying a split by the number of miles you have already run, let alone try to make a moral decision. So, if it helps anything, I won’t ever judge you for what you exercise in! Personally, I love my running skirts and tank tops because they are SO comfortable, but they are way shorter/more immodest than anything I would ever wear otherwise. And for the record, when it’s snowing and icy and I’m worried about slipping and breaking everything, I always wear my garments for the protection! It’s really not that uncomfortable to wear garments when it’s exercising when it gets that cold. Sometimes it’s actually more comfortable to wear them. But in the summer, I agree with Mia. So hot and bunchy and awful. And congrats about having a child in kindergarten already! That's so crazy!
I think he is referring to people like a friend I had once, she would go and work out (without wearing them) and then she would come home and stay in her work out clothes all day long, just to justify the "not wearing of them". That for her was the first of her apostasy.
She and her husband are now divorced and she is no longer a member of the church.
I think the real thing is to find peace within yourself with the Lord.
That is what I have had to do with some things that have come out with our new Relief society presidency. I have had to go online to www.lds.org and research for myself what they said and find out what the prophet has said. Even if I don't agree with that particular thing that they have said, I have prayed and know that this r.s. presidency were called of God and they are doing the best they know how.
I will do my best in doing my own calling and leave them be as they struggle to find out what the Lord wants them to do.
In fact last night as I was pondering on my own issues and praying about it, I felt like what the Lord really wants me to do is pray for them that they will be inspired to what the LORD really wants them to do so they can help the whole ward.
May the Lord bless you in your search for truth and righteousness.
Sometimes it can be hard to know which counsel is inspired and what is a personal thought. Just an idea from my personal mind...is counsel on wearing your garments correctly ever a bad thing? I don't wear my garments when I go running either, but when you walk...it isn't horrible. Just a thought...there is a big difference between speeding and wearing your garments as they are meant to be worn.
Interesting post, Rachel. I always wore exercise clothes that covered my garments until this year when I finally started training seriously for longer races. I find that I have issues with chafing (I've gotten some serious rashes, actually) when I wear garment tops while I run and I've tried a few different fabrics. If I'm doing a short loop - 3 miles or less, I wear my garments and (obviously) clothing that'll cover them. For longer runs, I wear tanks and shorts and I have no qualms about it. I come home and change within a few minutes, and I don't wander around in them otherwise. In the winter, I wear my garments because the extra layer is welcome when it's 20 degrees outside. Use your best judgement and do what feels right to you.
Just a random stalker (but I'm not a stalker, I promise).
I think that the problem is mainly with boobs hanging out of tank tops and bums peeking out, too. Just ask yourself if the Savior came up to you would you feel comfortable in his presence?
I know a few women in my neighborhood who 'lounge' all day in the exercise clothes because they ran in the morning or intend to run later. . . . .I don't think that's okay.
Sounds like you're really trying to do the right thing!
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