Shoes

Shoes. A simple component of one's attire yet a powerful reminder to me to love. Frustrated by Mahmoud's frequent cancellations and tardy appearances to my Arabic class had me thinking thoughts which were less than Jesus-like. That is, until I saw his shoes. He walked in, clearly feeling ill, slightly discouraged, yet trying to pull himself together enough to teach another lesson. I saw a young man living in desperation, wanting more out of life, getting less.

I was ready to give him the typical lecture of his responsibility to be on time, how my day is valuable, and his duty to come prepared to instruct...it was then I looked down. And there they were on his feet. Two tennis shoes. Black with a red stripe. And it hit me. Hard. He is just like me. Goes out searching for shoes. Ones that are comfortable, in-style, and durable. We are brothers. We are so similar.

Perhaps he is dealing with heartaches I cannot imagine. If I had to walk in his shoes, what would my life be like. Helpless as I see the chaos around me and the futility of my efforts to change it. Wearily teaching Arabic to dumb foreigners for 10 hours a day. Frustratingly trying to make ends meet and realizing this is simply a constant circle with no end in sight. Hopeless as I follow the stringent regulations of man-made religious precepts required to reach God. But his shoes, God, they are like mine. For 40 years in the desert, you kept the shoes of Your people from wearing out. (Deut. 29:5) So keep my love fresh in the spiritual desert of this world. Because inside those shoes are feet with calluses, aches, blisters, arthritis. Did I think of that before? No, because I failed to put myself in his shoes. O God, forgive me for not loving more. Forgive me for getting frustrated at trite things.

How will the world ever see Jesus in me if I only judge, dishonor others, and impose my "rights?" It's not about "my rights" but about His love.

When Jesus showed humility and servanthood at it's finest, He hit the floor, untied those dusty sandals of His disciples, and began washing. Letting the cool water rinse those dirty, disgusting feet that had been cooped up in shoes all day. Drying them with the towel with which He was wearing. And Jesus…no, He didn't care. It wasn't about where those feet had been. What they had done, whether right or wrong. It was about what they needed now. A little attention. A little love. So He served. And then He shared with His disciples, "I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you...if you know these things, blessed are you if you do them." (John 13:15,17)

In that day, even a slave didn't have to untie his master's sandal. This was the ultimate form of humility. Yet this was the One of whom John said, "whose sandal strap I am not worthy to losse." (Luke 3:16) Who else needs love today? Just look at their shoes. You might not know where they've been, but is that the question? Perhaps, we should be more concerned about where they are going...that we intersect their life with love. Life isn't easy. Maybe, they've just been in the desert for 40 years, or maybe they are like Mahmoud…just needing someone who genuinely cares…and loves.

Oh yeah, I nearly forgot…you gotta get down low. It's hard to wash feet standing up.

5-4-3-2-1-JUMP

My legs were trembling as trudged the 200m catwalk to the arch of the Bloukrans Bridge. The open grillwork of the catwalk revealed the 700-plus feet of air beneath me dropping to the gorge's floor. It was shortly after 0800h on that Monday morning. The clouds had passed over and the sky opened up lighting up the brilliant mountains to the North and creating a glistening effect on the Indian Ocean to the South. A few minutes before, I had been strapped into a full body harness, wished good luck, and sent on my way...on my way to the pinnacle of fear.

Before venturing onto the bridge that Fall morning, a sign overhead reminded me, "Fear is temporary, regret is forever." So, facing my fear, I went forward. I have never been one to let fear conquer areas of my life. From reaching kids in war zones, to jumping out of planes, to eating tarantulas, to diving with Great White sharks, nothing has been an obstacle...but my greatest fear directly faced me now. The world's highest bridge bungy jump. Situated along the Garden Route at the Tsitsikamma National Forest off the Garden Route, the Bloukrans Bridge is an attraction for any extreme athlete.

Upon reaching the jump site on the arch, I was welcomed by an energetic group of South African bungy specialists...ready to send me on my way to the fall of my life. After strapping the padding and strap to my ankles, I was escorted to the edge where the bungy was attached to my 81kg frame.

And then the moment came...the moment every extreme athlete waits for. Asking for any last minute advice, I was told, "Don't hesitate!" Then the moment you wait for...when the adrenaline is pumping at such an extreme level that the body overrides every mechanism of fear...with the techno music pumping, my feet over the edge, the enthusiastic staff screamed out, 5-4-3-2-1-JUMP!!!!

With that, I left the solid concrete of the the 216m high bridge, and took the biggest jump of my life...assuming streamline position, I plummeted the couple hundred meters towards the earth leaving all common sense behind. As the bungy caught, it sprang my body 130 meters back into the air...after a 90 second bounce experience, I was retrieved by the winch and returned to solid earth.

Though the experience enabled me to overcome another of life's fears, I learned a much bigger lesson that day. Nearly everyone reading this blog would agree that the bungee cord itself is reliable, but how many would actually venture onto the bridge and take the plunge? Twelve years of safety, thousands of jumpers, and loads of adrenaline have proved this fact, but though I can say ALL day that I trust the bungee, until I’m willing to actually jump off the bridge basing my entire confidence in it, how much do I ACTUALLY trust it?

Likewise, so it is in our walk with God. Most people in the world believe in God (as do demons...and they tremble---James 2:19) and though we claim to trust God, how much does it really mean until we are willing to venture into the unknown trusting HIS promises alone? To swim upstream when the world tells us otherwise. Jesus tell us that "whoever wants to save his life will lose it and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." (Matthew 16:25) Then Jesus unleashes the extreme call of, "If any man desires to follow Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow." (Luke 9:23)

No in-between options. Either you jump or you don't. Either you follow, or you stay behind! "Whoever, therefore, wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." (James 4:4) A forsaking of life's common conveniences for the pursuit of the extraordinary! Faith as a mustard seed. It's not the amount of faith, but in whom it was placed. It didn't matter if I had heaps of faith in the bungy or a little. The question is, "Did I jump?" T.S. Eliot put it like this, "Only those who risk going too far can find out how far one can possibly go."

Does that characterize my faith in Jesus? Am I jumping off the bridges of life for Him? Or am I the spectator who says, "He is worthy to be trusted, but I'm not willing to risk it"? Perhaps the greatest risk is to stay on the bridge.

I would suggest, "Jump!" My advice, "don't hesitate!"

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