Broken Toes

I missed the last step on the stairs to our basement yesterday morning and took a tumble, managing somehow to break two toes on my right foot. It was one of those moments when, though not intending to, I found myself 'speaking in tongues' as I slowly found a way to stand back up. Trying hard not to over bend them, yet wanting to find out how badly they were broken, I tried flexing all of the toes on my foot, finding that these two particular toes simply stayed straight and hurt all the more as I applied pressure to them. So, knowing there is really nothing that can be done about broken toes other than taping them to an adjoining toe for support, I slipped into my most comfortable flip-flops and continued my work, figuring the pain would ease as the day wore on, which it did.

A broken toe has an amazing way of bringing into perspective all that a person does, for there is very little which is not affected and given a wince of pain the more mobile one becomes. Up and down the stairs, walking in the garden, kneeling in prayer, even just pulling your feet up under your chair as you sit and read the Bible or the daily papers, all combine to remind a person just how incredibly careless it is to miss the final step on the staircase . . . and how long they will have to pay for their carelessness. Purple toes and ongoing pain have the unique capacity of reminding one just how much we take all that we are able to do for granted.

By the grace of God, each of us are remarkable creations, each a distinctive expression of God's goodness and imagination, however gifted or challenged. Each of us, too, have the capacity to reflect that goodness and live into God's will for our lives or simply consider life itself to be the gift and go on our own merry way without regard for the One who made us. In that context, my broken toes spoke to my soul, for they called me to value each step taken in a whole new way - remembering to be more careful about the things which cause me to stumble and fall and to be more attentive about where it is that I place my feet in the course of the daily journey. That one is able to walk at all is a privilege, so that carefully walking with the Creator becomes a sacred trust. In those moments when we so take for granted the capacity to walk that we stop looking where we are going, the fall will be great and if all that is broken is our toes, then we are very, very lucky.

Such are the lessons Israel and Judah learned in the faith journey with God in the years of the kingdom. Such are the lessons the Jewish nation learned as Jesus walked the earth and brought into perspective all that was being practiced in the name of faith. And, such are the lessons of which the Christian community is reminded in this day and age. Our God does not take our steps in faith for granted, so why should we.

Through my bi-focal lens I have been looking down a bit more carefully as I ascended and descended the many steps in our home, hopefully ensuring I will not re-injure what has already been broken and, after some mulling on the events of the day, so will I try to be more careful in how I walk in each moment with God. A couple of broken toes is pain enough to bear, if only for a few weeks. I cannot imagine the ongoing pain in God's foot when we fail to watch what we are doing and break covenant with God as though it were not our own to tend. It is certainly something of which to be aware as we walk the walk in the Spirit of God's presence, seeking in our own lives to avoid the pain of broken toes . . . and bruised souls.

Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Don