New shoes are always a little hard to get used to in the beginning. This week I bought my new sandals (two pairs) because I finally came to the conclusion that the old ones had finished their productive life and needed to be replaced.
Some people find it exciting and actually love getting new shoes. This isn’t my path. I like the old but true…the well worn and comfortable…the familiar…even when they become uncomfortable. I knew that I needed new shoes for work for many months; my feet were sore after a long day, the soles had begun to fail and many other indicators told me…new shoes. And if you know me, you know that I like walking sandals…so I ordered them and they arrived.
It is amazing what a difference new shoes make in a life. It does take some time to break them in…I need a little time to feel comfortable as the shoe stretches, molds and surrounds the foot. And there is the moment when you wonder why it took you so long to ditch the worn-out and old and replace it with the new?
In some way our spiritual life can follow this pattern as God invites us to step out of the old and into the new over and over again. Our spiritual growth invites us to try on the new shoes of prayer, service and sacrificial love in the ever-expanding relationship with Jesus Christ.
This often happens in a very natural way as we grow in age and wisdom or at least this is what we hope. It is why our continued seeking of God in prayer, service and sacrificial love need to meet the needs of our time in life and our relationship with God and his holy people.
For example, my relationship with God through the praying of the Rosary has changed throughout the years. The new shoes of the Rosary I now wear in prayer are much different than the shoes I wore as a young child praying with my family. In truth when I threw out the old shoes of the Rosary sometime in high school I never went to the closet to put on new shoes for many years but as time went on I discovered them in the treasure trove of our closet of faith and now the shoes of the Rosary have become shoes of meditative and thanksgiving that I slip on daily in the spiritual exercise of my soul.
It is searching out the presence of God that we renew and rediscover how we are called to walk in the shoes of life as we follow in the footsteps of Jesus. And don’t get me wrong in thinking we need to change just for change sake. Change comes as we begin to experience the deeper longing for something greater that draws our heart into the eternal love of God. The new shoes of prayer will be uncomfortable and challenging at first as we seek to wear them with joy and thanksgiving…it may even be hard to move out of the old and into the blessing of the new because the true danger lies in when we become comfortable in the un-comfortableness of the way things are and do not seek to grow towards God and away from sin. Jesus in the Gospel reminds us of this, “How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while there is still a beam in your own eye?“ (Mt 7:4)
Jesus invites to not be afraid to move forward in our life of faith, hope and love, where we share willingly of our time, talent and treasure in the prayer, service and sacrificial love of discipleship. It is here we recognize how we walk with Jesus carrying forward the blessings of life.
God Bless
Fr. Mark