Walk a mile in my shoes.

   I have this pair of shoes that I really love as they are really comfortable. Well one day I seen they had a hole in the toe so I decided to fix them with a little Shoe Goo. My son asked me about them and asked what the heck is that on my shoe and my wife told me to just throw them out and use the new pair I had under our bed.  I usually just wear them for going to and from work but then an idea struck me. I wondered how many people would notice me wearing them and ask me about them. So probably for the past month and a half I have worn them just about everywhere I go.

   I began to feel a little self conscious about them and wondered how others would react or approach me about them. I wore them while on a TEC (Teens Encounter Christ) retreat weekend and no one said a thing. I had them on at the RCIA meeting and at the Saint Vincent De Paul meeting and again no reaction. Maybe no one really noticed or looked at them, or maybe they just didn't want to say anything.

   Then one day someone came up to me and asked, "what happened to your shoe." There it was, my opening to share my thoughts. You see, I told the person, I meet many people through going on Saint Vincent De Paul home visits who are in need of many things. I want to feel what they might feel not having the things we all take for granted. I guess you could say I wanted to walk in their shoes. It helps me feel a connection to them on how hard it might be for them to ask or receive help.

   It was a surprise for me that hardly anyone noticed, or if they did, that they did not question me about them. I guess maybe we are all so busy worrying about our own troubles that we forget that others have problems too. Wearing those shoes helps me to see with different eyes.

   Brandon Heath's song "Give Me Your Eyes" puts it in a way that helps me do a better job at being a better servant. One of the verses and chorus goes like this.

Give Me Your Eyes.

  

 Step out on a busy street

See a girl and our eyes meet

Does her best to smile at me

To hide what's underneath

There’s a man just to her right

Black suit and a bright red tie

Too ashamed to tell his wife

He's out of work, he's buying time

All those people going somewhere

Why have I never cared?

Give me Your eyes for just one second

Give me Your eyes so I can see

Everything that I keep missing

Give me Your love for humanity

Give me Your arms for the broken hearted

The ones that are far beyond my reach.

Give me Your heart for the one's forgotten

Give me Your eyes so I can see.

   Hopefully after reading this your eyes will be open to more things going on around you, and that you too will be able to take the challenge of walking a mile in others shoes.