Evil are shoes

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No, not evil, but not necessary all the time either. For example, I run barefoot, but I work in a lab with icky stuff that wouldn't be good if spilled on my feet. Here is a great article on the non-necessity of shoes, called You Walk Wrong in New York Magazine. One great comment pointed to Soft Star Shoes for those times when society requires shodding. At the article comments a barefoot runner I know from a Yahoo group comments as well as a few lifetime barefooters and some really offended people. It's great fun to be barefoot. Your feet will acclimate. Last week I resumed running barefoot. I only went out for a mile and a half each time. This week I'm out for 2 miles at a time. I'm getting little nicks and blisters as I acclimate again. Life is never pain free anyway, but these little sacrifices now pay bigger dividends later on. Enjoy God's equipment!

Comments

batgirl said…
Hmm. Spiritual or psychological parralell? Humans try to insulate themselves...distance themselves from pain. (ie. in America we don't think about death. we act as if we're immortal. we ignore suffering, focussing instead on home decor, fashion, and "age-defying" makeup.) But our attempts to insulate ourselves- our psychological shoes, if you will- don't really help us. Just as wearing sneakers with great arch support disables our ability to feel the ground and compensate for bumps...just as that arch support serves to actually weaken rather than strengthen...just as there are more injuries...our psychological shoes serve to weaken our ability to relate to the world and one another. We depend on our dillusions of immortality and comfort like arch support and thus our spirits are weakened. We can't deal with trials. And just as shoe-wearing runners miss the feel of morning dew on grass, the tickling of clovers stuck between toes, the cool grit of sand and the splash of ocean on their bare feet... we miss the sweet fellowship that can be shared in suffering, the joy that comes in serving in dirty places, the beautiful intimacy with others, and most of all God.
April 23, 2008
John Umland said…
woe-hoe Janet. I sense you are wearing your Psych colored glasses. although, there is something to be said about "no pain no gain."
God is good
jpu
April 23, 2008
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