Well it is a new year and time for some fresh perspective on life, love, the past, the future, and the gift of today.

I have had the great opportunity lately to work on the programming for the upcoming mission trip, Flood of Justice Missions,  that we are hosting here at Central. I just wrapped up the script earlier this week on the theme of “Rescued.” I found a lot of incredible video resources out there to enhance our daily themes, and drive home some of the points on a much deeper level. Out of all of the resources that I was able to find the one that really has me thinking this week is simply entitled Shoes, and was created by Floodgate Productions.

It is a simple philosophy, to put yourself in someone’s situation, not to judge, and to try and walk a mile in their shoes.  But my how quickly we can lose focus and perspective and become judgmental individuals. So often like the photo to the left we are all too quick to ask others to walk in our shoes, but are so unwilling to do the same for those around us.

We all have a back story, we all have hurts and joys from our past that have made us who we are today. Perhaps that co-worker that gets on your nerves, or that relative that you just can’t stand to be around has some pretty deep stuff going on in their lives.

I am not trying to make the claim that by simply walking in someone’s shoes for awhile will suddenly endear them to us, and fix any riff that may have existed between the two of you. But when we step outside of ourselves, even if just for a moment, we validate the people we are often prone to judge. We gain compassion, understanding and wisdom about their lives, but also our own as well. I recently read that if we placed all of our problems out in a room with those around us, we would be all too quick to grab our own back as quickly as we could.

Be grateful for the shoes that you are walking in right now, and be willing to take them off and try on a pair that you may have judged in the past. Whose shoes are you being asked to wear today?

January 7, 2010 <> Michael Warneke

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