If Shoes Could Talk

I like comfortable shoes.
I like stylish shoes.
Sometimes it is hard to find a pair of shoes that fit both criteria.
Sometimes you have to make a choice.

When I find shoes that are both comfortable and stylish, I will get a few pairs.
I don’t mind having similar shoes in different colors.
Shoes are functional.
Shoes are an accessory.

Look at any fashion runway and you will find that designers seem to focus on the latter.
Heels are so high it seems unimaginable that anyone could ever walk in them.
Sometimes they don’t walk in them successfully.
Sometimes they slip and fall.

If your shoes hurt, everything hurts.
A woman will pull off her shoes the first chance she gets.
That is why so many wedding pictures have women in bare feet.
They wore their shoes for the ceremony but when they wanted comfort they took them off.

Whenever you drive in a city or walk down a city street you see it.
Women with lovely clothes wearing sneakers.
You can tell that there are more stylish shoes in the bag they are carrying.
But walking to the train and then a few blocks to their destination, they want comfort.

Soft, padded in all the right places, sneakers that feel like you are walking on a cloud.
You can walk up flights of stairs or walk block after block in comfort.
You can run to catch a bus or dash to the terminal for your flight.
You are equipped with the right shoes for the task.

I bought a pair of shoes because I liked the color.
The heel was the right height.
I knew they would go with quite a few things.
I brought them home and tried them on, walking around a bit.

I smiled when I did that because as a little girl my mother always said the same thing to me.
Don’t walk on the floor with your new shoes.
I always had to walk on the carpet so the shoes did not get scuffed on the bottom.
Walk on the carpet in case we have to take them back, my mother would remind me.

So here I was in my bedroom obediently walking on the carpet in my new shoes.
I walked back and forth across the room.
They were cute but they were not comfortable.
They would go with many things but I would not enjoy wearing them.

They will have to go back to the store.
I will have to return them.
Perhaps I can find another pair.
However I am not willing to sacrifice comfort for style.

You can tell a lot about a person by the shoes they wear.
You can tell how they walk by the way they wear down the heels of their shoe.
You can tell where they have been if you see mud or sand stuck in the soles.
You can sometimes guess their occupation by the style of shoe they wear.

Our shoes say a a lot about us.
They have stories to tell if they could.
They are the shock absorbers on this road of life.
They are the things that take the brunt of our daily walk.

What if our shoes could talk?
They know where we have been: places we should be and places we shouldn’t be.
They were the fancy accessory at a dinner party.
They were the comfy sneakers that we threw on to do errands.

They protect our feet from all the things that could hurt us.
They mold to the shape of our foot.
They hide our innersoles and orthotics.
They hide our heel guards and foot powder.

They can be stretched with a shoe stretcher.
They can be mended at the shoe repair shop.
They can be given away in the hopes that someone else could use them.
They can be forgotten, tucked far back in the closet.

If shoes could talk.
Cinderella had her glass slipper.
The elves made shoes for the shoemaker while he slept.
Shoes laced themselves for Marty McFly when he went back to the future.

If shoes could talk.
They might protest when we insist on squeezing our toes into shoes that don’t fit.
They might complain when we leave them on way too long and never let them breathe.
They might get lonely when we buy the perfect pair that is not so perfect after a while.

The functional shoe.
The comfortable shoe.
The shoes that fit our personality.
The shoes that take us where we want to go.

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. Here the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight – why the bush does not burn up.” When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then He said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” At this Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. (Exodus 3:1-6)

Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.
If shoes could talk.
Can you imagine the story that Moses’ sandals could tell?
Moses’ sandals stood in the presence of God.

As believers in Christ Jesus, we carry His Spirit around inside of us.
Everywhere we walk, He walks with us.
Everywhere we go, He goes with us.
Oh, the story our shoes could tell as we walk with God each day.

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? (1 Corinthians 6:19)

You are temples of the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 6:19)
You were bought with a price. (1 Corinthians 6:20)
You carry around God’s Spirit inside of you.
Anywhere God is, that is holy ground.

Take off your shoes!
The place where you are standing is holy.