Dear Love,
I have been to many places,
Rocky hills, smooth highways,
and even slippery mosses,
Sometimes, the climb was hard,
and sometimes, I fell,
But every ground that I walked on,
had a different story to tell
Some surfaces hurt me and,
some gave me a tear,
still I keep trying my best,
to not stop but bear,
I am constantly stepped on,
I carry the weight with my pair,
And when I wear out, I am given for repair,
Or abandoned in the corner with no care,
But I am known to protect the feet from thorns and stones,
as it cuts and wounds when stepped on bare
Your Love like me is a protective layer,
You don’t let the thorns wound or tear,
Like a shield, your love dodges and defends,
Every rock, every puddle,
every stick, every hurdle,
Your love keeps on moving,
despite the rock ground,
Taking all the pain when You broke the chains,
that had man bound,
Yet the same man chose to bind You,
Dragged You on uneven streets,
No garments, no shoe,
But Your love chose to forgive and hold on,
And You gently whisper, keep moving on
Love,
The Sandal Sole
Footnotes
Last week, I went to a famous desert in UAE. My husband asked me to wear boots as walking on desert sand is difficult and the fact that there are a lot of creepy crawly and, possibly venomous animals there. As I wore my boots, I thanked God in my head for it and thought what people who don’t have a pair might do. On our drive to the desert, I saw a couple of local camel herders and I immediately looked at their feet. They wore sandals with socks, except the sole was thicker than normal ones. “What about the creepy crawly things?” I asked almost immediately. “We sit on the camel; we don’t get bitten,” they said. Then I looked at the hooves of the camel.And guess what, a camel’s feet are actually not hooves, but each toe does have a hard nail that gives the impression of a hoof. The large, wide feet are divided in half, and the halves are joined underneath by webbing. Each foot spreads and flattens as the camel puts his weight on it. A camel walks on a broad pad that connects its two long toes. This pad protects the bare toes.
Then it hit me, it is not the kind of shoe, but the quality of the sole that matters at the end of the day. It is the sole that takes in all the weight, the looseness of the sand, the thorns and the rocks.
The analogy of a sandal sole is taken in this poem as the sole walks on all the uneven surfaces, and when it steps on sharp things, it might tear but still it protects the feet. The sole endures all the external factors that can cause damage to the bare feet. Similarly, God’s love covers us, shielding us from thorns, rocks, from bruises and tear.
He took on the bruises and tears for our sake. He, like the sole, protected us from all that could possibly damage us or hurt us. Such is the Father’s love. “Love endures all things” is also a standard set for us by God.
We, like Christ, must toughen up to endure the harshness of this world. It may be abuse, betrayal, hurt or persecution—we must endure just like Jesus did. We bless those who curse us, we encourage those who demotivated us and we love those who hate us—this is what God wants of us. To endure the pain, the grief, the hurt and overcome it with forgiveness in love. And we can only do it with the help of the Holy Spirit for our flesh is weak and our thoughts are weaker. Our ‘soles’ become tougher and powerful with through conditioning by the Word of God. The Scripture provides those extra protective layers that help us endure even the toughest of conditions. So, delve into the Word and saturate your spirit with it for His Word is mightier than a double-edged sword. Also, remember to not just hear or read but also be DOERS of the Word. With doing, comes practise and, you know, practise makes perfect. We are all on the path to perfection after all, aren’t we?
The way to our heavenly home is a path of thorns, uneven plateaus and creepy crawly and venomous animals—make sure you have your heavy soles on!