Pocket Wrinkles

Recently I was up at my grandparents’ helping them with some house- and yard work and ironing was on the list. I’m not an experienced ironer. In fact the only things I have ever really taken the time to iron are my ROTC uniforms in high school (and that ~7 years ago), and my work uniform now. I don’t know much about it, which I admit to her, so she gives me a few pointers which I’ll pass onto you.

1. Turn the pants inside out and iron the pockets.

Me: “Iron the pockets? But their inside the pants. No one sees them.”

Grandma: “Well if the pockets are wrinkly it will show through the pants and make the hips look all crumply.”

And that’s when it occurred to me, if we don’t iron our pockets, our inner wrinkles become visible to everyone else, even if we’ve ironed our outsides. You know, it surprises me how many people don’t iron their clothes even to go to weddings and funerals anymore. Like I said before, I’m not an avid ironer, but there are certain places where you just shouldn’t show up wrinkly: weddings, funerals, professional businesses, fancy benefits/banquets, etc. In our culture, so many of us just don’t care about how we appear to everyone else. We’ve often got such high opinions of ourselves that we proclaim, “People ought to just accept me whether I’m what they think I ought to be or not.” Which is true…to an extent. We should be accepting and loving towards others, but if you don’t even have enough respect for the bride and groom, or the deceased’s family, or your boss, or whomever to show up looking as nice as possible, why should I respect your rather bold (or lazy) clothes?

That’s really an aside (or perhaps an illustration) to my main point though. My main point is this: if we don’t take the time to straighten out what’s on the inside of us, what’s in our hearts and minds, it doesn’t matter how much starch and steam and heat we apply to our outward appearance. Our pocket wrinkles are going to show through. Those little places where we tuck little things in and hope nobody sees, people will see. In fact– and not across the board mind you, but sometimes– some of those people who don’t care enough to look nice on nice occasions, that might be an indicator of an inner attitude. It could also be lack of rearing or lack of an iron at all, but I think you get my point.

“You know my folly, O God; my guilt is not hidden from you.” –Psalm 69:5

“For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” –Ecclesiastes 12:14

Iron your pockets. Your wrinkles will show through.