Who will fit into this pair of shoes and wear them perfectly without blisters, pains, and discomfort?
So precious, the price much more than rubies and the texture of the leather “golden”, with “platinum” laces, creating a tapestry, unique to the feet that wore it with ease for years.
So rich in meaning, the lessons to learn so bountiful. To ordinary eyes, classic and fashionable may be unsuitable words to describe them, indeed those shoes worth more than what money could buy.
Only those with a deeper understanding of divine musings would appreciate them and the desire to have them well fitted in their feet very irresistible.
Not just shoes for fashion, much more, reminding one of the futility of life, vanity of material amassment and the vainess of exoticism.
The pair of shoes, possibly not suggesting by its features designer’s crafted, but the feet that wore them not an ordinary one, elevating them to their level, just as Jesus’s ride on the Donkey elevated the level and status of the Donkey.
What an iconic feet that travelled without boundaries, preaching peace and love, giving warmth to the poor and showing compassion to the weak, burdened by the challenges of repetitive abnormal sinful habits.
These shoes are classic and fashionable, not because they are in themselves, no! The celebrity of the feet inside them made them.
The quality of what one wears is determined not by the price tags but much more by the quality of the person that adorns them. When a mad man wears the most expensive garment, his status automatically detract on the value, same way a man of valour, rich in value with impeccable character, accentuates the value of a used cloth when he adorns it.
Even in his humility, he was admired. In his simplicity, he was cherished, in his austere disposition, he was gifted with priceless gifts. What does this show? What makes one thick, loved, honoured, revered and utterly respected is not what one wears, or the flambouyant display of wealth but the warmth of love, care, compassion and empathy that flow from the inside to those in dire need of them.
If you ask me, such is the reality of Pope Francis and the magic wand that made him the beloved.
Look inward and see how much of love and compassion one would be able to generate and distribute dispassionately.
Wealth, riches and its ostentatious display write nobody’s name on the hall of fame if souls in need, in distress, in pains, agony etc are not touched with warmth of relief, joy and compassion.
What a pair of shoes to have around one’s feet, worth selling all that one has to buy them!
Oh my feet why won’t you aspire to fit into these shoes? My deeper desire oh Lord!
Oh my soul, why wouldn’t you be this disposed for simple things?
Oh my mind why wouldn’t you be so distanced from mundane things and focus on the eternal?
These shoes my feet must wear. This mind I must have and this attitude of humility, simplicity and godliness I must cultivate. In them is the real honor, reverence and respect every other thing is vanity.
If only religious leaders, Heads of States, Politicians, Captains of Industries, Parents, and Children would be humble enough to wear this pair of shoes, so sweet, so fulfilling, so peaceful and accommodating, we would all live together with the challenges of life minimised.
As we wait for the commencement of the Conclave, let the feet of the next Pope have desire for this pair of shoes, pining for it as the deer pines for running stream. Amen!!
Dr. Jarlath Uche Opara Jarlathuche@gmail.com
