Suggested Readings: Psalm 125; 1 Kings 18:1-18; Ephesians 6:10-17
Suggested Readings: Psalm 125; 1 Kings 18:1-18; Ephesians 6:10-17
My feet are bad. Not in any sort of ethical sense. I’m sure that morally speaking, my feet are perfectly pious. But when it comes to walking, they can cause me pain. I have pronated flat feet. I never remember if that makes me walk like a pigeon or a penguin, but the soles of my shoes wear in a certain way that emphasizes the problem if I don’t replace them regularly. Insoles are a necessity, though I’ve resisted the $500 pair and settled on some cheaper ones that work pretty well.
When I was a kid, and my family was poor, there were two things my mom refused to skimp on when it came to each of us: ice cream and shoes. I’m not sure on what ground she could defend the penchant for high dollar ice cream, even when the meal might have been bologna sandwiches, but when it came to shoes, Mom vigorously advocated for the necessity of quality footwear. “You’ve got to take care of your knees and your back,” she’d say, “you’re gonna want them to work for the rest of your life.” Our feet matter. To our knees, to our backs, and to our whole bodies.
In the Ephesians passage we read for today, Paul talks of the metaphorical “armor of God” that Christians are to wear. Verse 15 reads, “As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace.”
Our feet move and support our whole bodies. They carry us from place to place. In our spiritual lives, are we tending to our feet in the way that Paul encourages us too? In ways that ensure our whole selves are grounded in peace? That peace carries us from place to place?
As I write these words, the Russian war against Ukraine rages. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict burns hotter each day, and here at Belmont, we are reeling from several losses in the last half year, of students who have lost their lives to violence and to suicide. We are in need of peace. We are in need of people who are grounded in peace, who carry peace with them wherever they go, people whose whole selves, from their feet to their heads, are anchored in the peace of Christ.
Our prayer, Lord, this Advent—may we be bringers of peace, as we walk together in the gospel of the Prince of Peace, Jesus the Christ. Amen.
Donovan McAbee
