How About New Shoes?

Our God is not the God of America. Our God is God of all people.

"From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries." Acts 17:26 (NLT)

I recently read an article in which the author posed the question, "What if a cooperative interdependence took the place of our misguided sense of independence in America and then the world?" This line has since been haunting me.

In Moral Seminar, we are currently looking at Morality & Emotion. This chapter has begun to help me connect my implicit (internalized, unspoken) feeling with an explicit (outward, spoken/written) action. Which leads me to the very common question for myself: WHY?

Why have we become a people that look to our own interests? (When I say we, I am speaking to those of us who call ourselves Christians/believers/children of God.) Others are more than welcome to read this, but this is a call/plea to the people that cling to the same faith and hope in this God that I do.

When was the last time I/you/we cried over the death of an Iraqi soldier? When did I/you/we become to believe that fighting a war to "protect" our nation was appropriate because we are defending what we believe is right? Why is the death of innocent Iraqi bystanders in these battles "just a part of war", while the 3,497 people who died through the tragedies of 9/11 was "unthinkable"? I agree that these American deaths were tragic. My heart broke as I walked through the streets of New York six years later and saw memorials all around me. When did I/you/we find time to cry for the citizens of other nations that have died as a part of this war?

Larry P. Nucci (quoted/discussed in previous blogs) notes that emotional development underlies the development of both moral and religious beliefs. Is it that many of us are not emotionally mature enough to view this situation (among many other daily injustices) through the lenses of the faith I/you/we so adamantly proclaim?...

Nucci states that a person who is emotionally immature will hold religious beliefs differently from people who are more mature. This sounds a lot like someone who reads the Word, goes to church, truly tries to love God...and overlooks all of this, casting judgement on a homosexual sin. When I/you/we meet someone who is homosexual, how easy is it to judge them and start to pray/think/plan on ways to "help them out of their sin." When was the last time I/you/we confronted or prayed for a friend who was struggling with cheating on tests...or lying to their parents...or worrying ("Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?" Matt 6:25)???

I say all of this because these thoughts are swirling through my head. They won't be answered today. They can't be changed throughout the world in a day...but they are things to be thought about/chewed on/wrestled with/internalized.

Lately God has been calling me to love people. I know we are ALL ALWAYS called to love people...but He has been making it painfully obvious.

American journalist, Dorothy Day, once said, "If you own two coats, one of them belongs to the poor."

Saturday, I went through all of my clothes, shoes, etc and got rid of half of it. I counted what I kept and what I got rid of to hold myself accountable. When I went to the clothing/shelter donation box, I dropped off 7 trashbags full of belongings. I was excited on the drive over there...hoping that following God's whispers would lead me to feel accomplished and a 'faithful follower'...but instead, I left with tears in my eyes and a heavy heart. The clothes I dropped off completely filled up the empty bin. There are homeless people who wear the same clothes every single day and I was able to give away half of what I owned and not only do I not miss any of it...I can't really tell you right now what was in those bags.

I'm thanking God for His lesson, as I continue to seach for ways to love His people more than I do today. I want to love Him more tomorrow than I do today. To quote my wonderful friend Curt Vernon “I pray that tonight is the farthest that we ever are from you Lord.”

One last idea from Nucci: "Perspective takig is necessary if one is to understand. One must temporarily suspend one's own perspective in order to take that of another, much as you must take off your own shoes in order to try on another pair."

Take off the shoes of comfort.

Take off the shoes of apathy.

Take off the shoes of believing that Americans are in any way more deserving of anything.

Take off the shoes of judgement.

Take off the shoes of being right in an argument.

Take off the shoes of somehow thinking you know better.

Take off ALL of your shoes....and put on the shoes of a Big Guy. He is so much better at teaching you how to walk through this life. Some times, the shoes feel awkward and it is SO much easier to get back into the old shoes. But that's the point! He is growing you...for the rest of your days. But every single day you follow Him, you will grow into those shoes will feel better.

And remember, there is room in those shoes because they are His. He is walking in them and you are too. He was meant to walk it with you. If you try to borrow them and do it on your own, you will fail. They're pretty big shoes to fill.