Why Oh Why Does Ryan Always Wear Black?

For some reason people don't like it when I wear black, which I do often. They all need a reason for why I dress up and carry a generally somber appearance. Besides the simple answer that I do it because I respect the good doctors and authorities that are around me and the standard among them is to dress snappy and appropriately for a professional culture, may I add that there is little reason to dress and act like everything is great when hundreds and thousands of babies are mutilated at the whim of a mother's "freedom of choice". One day, when I'm heaven, I'll be happy to wear neon pink or happy green and lavender if thats what suits the purpose and the praise, but for now, lets realize that there is a somber world we live in and that while we take great joy in the realization that Jesus Christ is Lord, King, Substitute, and therefore Savior, that God is the Almighty Benevolent and Electing Sovereign of the universe, and that we have the incredible "hope of glory" in Christ Jesus, life is a somber ordeal. We are still weighed down with sin, we are still in our earthly bodies, we are not yet in heaven, we see hundreds of thousands of precious, sweet, little human lives taken in the name of our "freedoms".

What good is it to walk around like everything is wonderful when there is cause for groaning? Yes of course, I know there is also great cause for joy if you noted the above words. I think Johnny Cash would suit this situation beautifully,

Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,
Why you never see bright colors on my back,
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.
Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on.

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,
Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he's a victim of the times.

I wear the black for those who never read,
Or listened to the words that Jesus said,
About the road to happiness through love and charity,
Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me.

Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose,
In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes,
But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back,
Up front there ought 'a be a Man In Black.

I wear it for the sick and lonely old,
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,
I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been,
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.

And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,
Believen' that the Lord was on their side,
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,
Believen' that we all were on their side.

Well, there's things that never will be right I know,
And things need changin' everywhere you go,
But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right,
You'll never see me wear a suit of white.

Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day,
And tell the world that everything's OK,
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,
'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black

Let us not be too foppish and cavalier about the gravity of the situation that surrounds us.

soli deo gloria

R.D. Thompson