shoes

My shoes are too wide. They practically fall off my feet when I am processing up the aisle at the start of the worship service. They get caught in the hem of my alb when I am going up and down the stairs. People think they look cute, though. Someone saw me wearing them once in a hospital elevator, and said, "where did you get those shoes? they look comfortable!" They would be comfortable, if they weren't so wide.

Shoes and I have had a checkered history. I have been searching for comfortable, affordable, attractive shoes for all of my adult life. I have concluded that, for me, they do not exist. I have left shoe stores in tears because I just couldn't bear the stylish shoes I so wanted to wear.

I have bad feet. Not the worst feet ever, but seriously sub-standard. I should probably be wearing the kind of shoes nurses wear, but I don't. Support shoes. Bad foot genes run in my family. My dad retired early from (then) Daytons because he just couldn't stand up for eight hours a day selling entertainment centers any more. Because of his flat feet, he kind of walked like a duck, and I mean that in the nicest possible way. He's a very nice man, but he couldn't do the work he loved any more.

Once, in a sermon, I held up a number of pairs of shoes, and asked the congregation to clap for the pair that seemed most appropriate for "walking with Jesus." One was a pair of beautiful high heels. I wore them for my wedding, but never since then. They make my feet swell. Nevertheless, a few of the men clapped for them. Another pair was a very expensive, razzmatazz pair of running shoes. Maybe they even had those flashing lights on the sides (good for running at night). I believe the third pair was an ordinary pair of tennis shoes. I think most people thought those were most appropriate for "walking with Jesus." Maybe not for church on Sunday, though.

The most important thing is to, "Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with God. There's the upside of having bad feet. The only way to walk is humbly. Come to think of it, walking is, in and of itself, a humble activity. And to think that God walks with us -- puts up with sore feet, fallen arches, aching backs -- is more humbling still.