Published in the United Church of Christ devotional booklet 'Rise Up: Spirituality for Resistance' (June 2017).
"Feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace." Ephesians 6:15
With Muslims feeling increasingly isolated and vulnerable, some Jews and Christians conspired to show our cousins some love. We would meet outside the mosque at Friday prayers: be there as Muslims arrived and be there still—arms interlocked, smiling, nodding Salaam—as they departed. We hoped to demonstrate that everyone should feel safe worshipping in their house of faith. The event was organized by three Jews, all descendants of Holocaust survivors. How could I not go?
But the weather was perishing: single digits with sharp winds driving itsy, snow-needles into eyes. We were going to be there for hours. Standing in place. Freezing in place.
So, that morning I bought a pair of Sorel boots. My first. Thick soles with dense, felt inserts and exteriors of sturdy, waterproof rubber. They’re advertised to be good to –40 ͦC.
The reason I bought the boots is that my feet neared frostbite only weeks earlier at the Women’s March on the frozen Boston Common, where I’d stood outdoors for hours without moving. It got me thinking about the feet of Jesus and his followers. How much walking they did, what with lugging the Gospel of peace here and everywhere on sandaled feet. How often they were outside in the weather. How Jesus must have noticed the toll it was taking because one Thursday evening the Savior of the world bent down to sponge their aching feet with soapy water.
We’re going to be on our feet a lot in the coming months. Outside. Marching. Crossing borders. Standing in solidarity. Freezing. Sweating.
Make ready. Resistance is personal. It is intimate and physical. We do it with our bodies and our souls.
Prayer: God, bless our aching feet to the work before us.