Think of your favorite pair of shoes, those shoes you could wear for days on end and your feet might not even notice you’re wearing shoes. Now, think of the worst pair of shoes you’d ever want to wear: stiletto heels that arch your foot, dress shoes that cram your toes, sloppy boots that just won’t stay on your feet, or little toddler shoes as a grown adult.
A few weeks ago, I instructed a group of youth to line up on one side of the room. Their instructions were simple: complete a relay race, but there was a catch. Once they got in line, they were given a different pair of shoes to wear during the relay. As I handed out the sloppy boots and the heels, I got looks of disbelief and comments of, “really, Pastor?!”
When the little kid shoes came out, the remarks turned to accusations, boldly declaring to me, “that’s not fair!”
Suffice it to say, eventually the youth swallowed their distaste for the shoes I’d given them, and we had some fun with the race. Afterwards, I asked the youth point blank, “what was it like to physically walk in someone else’s shoes?” Very quickly, the youth told me it was uncomfortable, difficult, painful, and that it took more effort to do something that normally could be done with ease.
Without realizing it, they were beginning to understand something. Continuing our conversation, we noted that though we casually say we are to, “walk in other people’s shoes,” that might not be as easy as it sounds. Because living in shoes of someone in poverty, might feel uncomfortable. Living in the shoes of a refugee, might be difficult and painful. Living in the shoes of someone of a different race or gender might take more effort on our part to do something that could normally be done with ease.
Living in the shoes of someone else might feel uncomfortable, or even seem “unfair.” And yet, as a Christian, that is exactly what I believe God did out of love for us. As I told the youth: “God put on the high heel, and became human for our sake. God chose what was uncomfortable, and even unfair, so that we might know God is always walking with us and so that we might live in the promise of God’s hope. And now, as people who live as God’s children, we have been given a different pair of shoes: saintly shoes. Shoes that call us to care for one another, even if it might slow us down a bit.”
So might we try on those saintly shoes and consider a change of footwear? With God’s promise leading our steps, might we be more intentional about what it means to, “walk in someone else’s shoes”? Doing so won’t fix everything that we, or others, might be experiencing, but we can walk together, as one, even as we are intentionally aware that our walk is not the same as anyone else’s.
