Two Left Feet
This week I heard about shoes three distinct times. Here’s how that happened.
Underneath the bed is a large tote bag that contains all my shoes. My least favorite shoes, but the most important ones for my feet, are Brooks shoes that my podiatrist said I needed. Although I don’t care for them, I wear them. As I went to pull them out, I realized I had a pair of white Nike shoes that I wore for only a couple days back in 2009 when I went to Holden Village, above Lake Chelan in Washington. A pastor there wore them a few days at the request of her doctor after she had weed whacked her toes. She hated those shoes and admired my Teva sandals. On my last day there, she asked if I would trade shoes with her and promised that as soon as we both were in Indiana again we would meet up and trade shoes back. She couldn’t stand to wear the Nikes the rest of her time at Holden. So, reluctantly I traded with her as I loved my Teva’s and never liked closed-toed shoes like the Nikes either. After we both returned to Indiana, we tried a few times to get together, but something always came up. Just before Easter, life overcame her, and she took her life. I keep her shoes to remind me to never put off until tomorrow what needs to be done today. I held those shoes for a bit and put them back to find my Brooks.
The second time shoes came into focus was after my colonoscopy. My dear friend Bob went with me. When it was time to leave, I felt good but a little woozy. He put my shoes on me or tried to. He told me I had two left feet. Now it wasn’t the first time I heard that. Everyone I ever danced with told me that. However, I literally had two black ballerina slip-ons for the left foot. The funny thing was that I wore these to Minnesota for Thanksgiving. I like this style because they are relatively easy to slide on and off. There are two pair in the bag under my bed. One size 9 and one size 9 ½. Guess I picked out one of each size and both with the left shoe. How had I not noticed that in Minnesota or at home!
Then at Stephen Ministry Peer Supervision, Annette read the devotion for the evening from Joyce Rupp’s prayer book. Joyce is my hero, and I really perked up hearing that she was reading something Joyce wrote. It was titled: “Walk a Mile in My Shoes.” The entire writing is excellent, but I’ll just share this part with you: “Your shoes carry the story of ‘yourself.’ No one else can fit into those shoes, into your story, in the same way that you do. Now, look at the shoes of someone else. Imagine the story they carry. We cannot ‘wear’ each other’s stories. We empathize and respect people for who they are and what they have experienced.”
What I’ve learned this week as these shoe stories presented themselves.
1. Just do it!
2. Wear the “right” shoes.
3. You have no idea what story another person’s shoes may tell. Be gentle and kind to all especially those hardest to even like.
Let’s go out there creating loving stories with our shoes!
