Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Someone else's shoes

I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. 1 Corinthians 9:22
THis was the scripture that we meditated on in Holy Yoga last week. This has always puzzled me and I am just wondering what you think about it? It made me think about life from the perspective of others. Take my neighbor for example. We call her "Crazy Liz", but her real name is Elizabeth Casey. This widow is in her 80s, has macular degeneration and is skinny as a rail. What is it like to live by yourself and not be able to see? Sometimes she comes over to our house just to tell us that there has been a recent break-in around the neighborhood and she wants us to know. Sometimes when I am in the yard with the children, she comes out to get her mail (her one daily dose of sunshine) and we chat, usually about her health. So when I think of her and in reference to the above scripture I am stumped. I do not know what it is like to be a widow, practically blind and lonely. But, I do know that she loves to talk with me and look at my children. Maybe by standing in my front yard for an extra hour listening to her talk about the most recent doctor's appointment saved her from an hour of loneliness inside of her dark world inside her home.
Another example. There is a little two year old boy in my life that acts in ways that sometimes are not acceptable to me. For instance, yesterday I told Eric to "come to Mommy" because I wanted him to get in the car so we could get to where I wanted us to go. After I called to him, he ran in the opposite direction. At first I got mad and wanted to yank him by the arm and drag him in the car. But I didnt. I put myself in his shoes. "Why was he running away", I pondered. I think it was because I had been preoccupied with other things the entire day and we had not played together at all. He just wanted to have some of my attention and simply play "get you" with me. Well, I put aside my desire to get in the car and I played "get you" with him in the parking lot for a few minutes. Luckily there was still some daylight left and the parking lot was not busy. After our little "get you" game, I told him it was time to get in the car and he willingly went in and got in his seat. I tend to judge others so quickly. Thanks be to God that He wants me to change and leave the judging to Him. I have been very conscious of my thoughts toward people now. I put myself in their shoes and think about how I may relate to them in order to be a light to them.
Well, enough of my musings. Good night.

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