Another Man’s Shoes

“Everyone's got their own set of troubles

Everyone's got their own set of blues

Everyone's got their own set of struggles

Walk a mile in another man's shoes”

~ Drew Holcomb

Do we ever really know what’s going on in the mind and hearts of those around us?  Is there heartache, loss, fear, solace, happy anticipation, giddiness?

Is that kid that continually kicks the soccer ball next door going inside at dusk to an empty pantry and an empty stomach? What about the couple that are fighting - both disillusionment and each other as their 9 month old just won’t sleep for more than an hour or so through the night?

How do we ever know what’s going on around us if we keep the visors on, our heads down, burying ourselves in our own troubles? It’s so incredibly easy to not engage. Me personally, I know that I can stop and talk to someone on the street, but that doesn’t mean I truly open up to what they are dealing with. And a lot of times I just don’t want to.

Love your neighbor. 

But do we even know our neighbors? 

I’ve been living on this side of Atlanta for about 10 months now. And I’ve walked this area pretty intensely. On my good weeks I walk several miles a day, watching and taking in everything around me. I can tell you what cars park at certain houses, I know where some of the kids that roam the neighborhood live or at least where they congregate when they’re about to get into trouble. And I know where the pretty rose garden is in front of that small house on the main strip. 

But I don’t really know the people. And this is my community. 

And then I have my other community - the groups that I attend that are so vulnerable and raw, so real. And even there it’s easy not to open up and get to know anyone past what they share when we’re all gathered.  But there comes a choice.

Do we really want to know? 

Do we want to know and do we want to walk a mile in another person‘s shoes? Do we want to take up their story and add it to our own, and do we want to invite them to be part of our lives? 

Selfishly, I often don’t. But I know I need community. There is something about being vulnerable that is scary as hell but it’s also honest, and when you find people who you can start to trust, you realize you’re not alone. And beyond that big dude upstairs (if you subscribe to that version of a ‘higher power, infinite being, spirit of the universe’), we need more people on our side down here :-) 

So maybe it’s time to open up just a little bit more. I’m not saying drop all your boundaries and throw yourself to the mighty winds of the universe. But I do think it’s important for me that I try to be open. Try to be available when I can. And try to get to know some of the people that are in my neighborhood.

My community.

~ Peace

The Burtle

Listen to this!!