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Joseph’s Coat
a queering theology devotional
Today’s Passages
Now Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons, for he was the child of his old age; and he had made him כְּתֹנֶת פַּסִּים [an ornamented tunic] (Genesis 37.3 Tanakh).
She was wearing כְּתֹנֶת פַּסִּים [an ornamented tunic], for maiden princesses were customarily dressed in such garments (II Samuel 13.18).
Reflection
When I was a young not-recognised girl in high school, I was introduced to Andrew Lloyd Webber; none of his musicals spoke to me more deeply than Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I was already aware of the Joseph story and it had held a fascination for me, but hearing the Act I song “Joseph’s Coat” gave me shivers. The list of colours the narrator runs through as she describes the coat brought home for me the dazzling beauty such a garment would hold. It gave me (and still gives me) chills; I was captivated, envious, and oddly embarrassed all at once. I desired, no ached for, such a beautiful robe. A chance to be me, spinning in a beautiful outfit, and have everyone who saw me be awed by it. It was an expression of who I was; it was a way of asserting and embracing the young woman I was.
I longed to play Joseph on the stage and to dazzle in my colourful robe as I sang “Any Dream Will Do” to applause with more thunder and weight than the Soo Line Railroad trains that once rumbled past our home. Though I never achieved that dream in full, I was chosen to play Joseph in a church production of a knock-off version of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s musical. I didn’t get to sing “Any Dream Will Do” and the applause were polite rather than thunderous, but I did get my coat of many colours. It was a white baptismal robe that had been tied and dyed a variety of rainbow colours (though not in rainbow order, of course). It came down to my knees and when I cinched it at the waist with a belt, it looked almost like a flower child’s summer dress. I loved my dress. And I imagined this was what Joseph felt.
Decades later, while reading the article “Princess Dresses and Radical Possibilities” by Mac Buff (published on rmnetwork.org, 20 September, 2017) I learned that my imagination was not far off from the potential reality of Joseph’s experience. I learned a fascinating bit of…
