Someone Else's Shoes
There's a Goodwill a block away from my new workplace and I've been tempted to take a look inside. I finally caved after work on Thursday thinking I might find a nice polo. Well, nice to me. But after searching the racks I found nothing so I headed over to the blazers. I didn't find anything there either, but something to the left caught my eye. It was the shoe rack to the left of the jackets. Now, I always thought it would be so dirty to wear someone else's shoes, especially knowing the way my own feet stink. I'm too neat and clean for wearing someone else's shoes. I jokingly tried a pair on, a brand new pair that hadn't sold in the stores, of course. The sole made me feel like I was wearing high heels and it was no wonder they hadn't found an owner while on the retail shelf. I put them back, and as I did these thin, brown leather grandpa looking dress shoes caught my eye. Curiosity got the best of me and I stuck my foot in. They snugly fit my long, slender foot.
The sticker inside said $3.99, but again these shoes were worn by someone else. Trying to gather more evidence before buying a pair of shoes that someone had clearly broken in I had to do it. I brought the right shoes up to my face and yes, took a whiff. Nothing. And another whiff to make sure. Again, no odor except a little bit of leather. They passed the second test.
But I didn't really need a pair of shoes. In fact, I'd been wearing the same model of Dr. Martens since my junior year of high school. It's like my feet and these shoes have become one over the years and nothing else could compare. I was very comfortable in them. And besides, they were pretty similar to the pair I held in my hand. But then the question came to my mind, "What's it like to be in someone else's shoes?"
Recently, I've recognized I am horrible asking myself this question. Almost all of my thoughts revolve around my well-being and rarely do I think to remember how others are doing. It could be a friend struggling with sin or the death of a family member, but often I don't think about the circumstances of others after I am first informed about them. This is the definition of being self-centered. But as I thought about buying these shoes I considered that they might help to remind me in a very tangible way to consider and love others. "I'm wearing someone else's shoes, and I wonder what's it's like to be the person right in front of me?"
"Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men." - Philippians 2:3-7
Needless to say I bought the shoes. They're pretty snug so I'm not completely comfortable in them. I hope this works to remind me of the circumstances of others that I so easily forget. In all reality, I hope that being in someone else's shoes will help me consider "what it's like".
