In the biblical story of the prodigal son, the wayward boy returns to his father straight from feeding leftovers to pigs in a field. We are not told what he was wearing, but… my sibs and I did that growing up on an Iowa farm. We called it “slopping the hogs,” and I assure you, we wore our crudest farm chore clothes to do it. It was as dirty a job as it sounds!

We are told that the loving father greeted his son by immediately commanding a servant to bring the finest robe and put it on him. Maybe the father was just trying to get rid of the smell of slopping hogs! But in the context of that story, I would call it “the robe of grace.” It meant forgiveness for sure, but more. It restored the fallen away son; it transformed his outward appearance in keeping with his status as beloved of the father.

Cypress trees do not need forgiveness! But the curtains of Spanish moss that hang from every branch transform their rigid, rough-barked trunks to swaying dancers–a “robe of grace,” if you will. Indeed, isn’t all creation a robe of grace showing the love of the Creator for our common home?