Sole to Soul

The point of the rock is sharp.  It feels like it is puncturing the protective skin that covers the bottom of my foot.  I step again…and this time the little pebbles of gravel feel like sandpaper.  For the first time I feel the pressure of my body weight on the bottom of my feet.  I am walking an uphill rocky trail barefoot.  A spiritual practice.  A physical practice.  Something to get me in physical connection with the earth that lives beneath m, as well as something that countless people are doing around me while here in Kenya.  The people do not have a choice….they do not have the luxury of owning shoes.  They run, walk, climb, jump and haul in bare feet.  They do not show signs of pain as they live their lives without shoes.  Calloused?  Tolerant?
I commit myself to doing the entire hike without shoes, it is a 25 minute walk with hiking sandals on.  Every step required my full attention.  I was careful and intentional every time I laid my foot down on the dirt ground.  Sometimes I knew when the pain of the rock was coming, and other times the piercing pain surprised the nerves of my body.  I thought about quitting this whole practice several times…forget this, it hurts!!  No, I am committed.
I could barely make it 15 minutes, while small children are living this way for their entire lives.  I had never really spent much time thinking about this way of life…minus a few conversations about TOMS shoes maybe.  As I prayed through my walk I gave full attention to God and to His creation beneath me…
I was stumbling along slowly when I heard a Kenyan woman shouting at me in the native luo tongue. She wanted to greet me so she stepped out of the thick vegetation with the world’s longest machete in her hand!! Machetes are commonly used to cut grass, dig and trim vegetation around the farm.  She was the first woman I encountered in the local community that knew ZERO english…not even hello. I was in trouble!  I don’t know what she was saying, all I know is that she was very, very passionate and insistent!  She was looking at the sandals in my hand and looking at my bare feet in confusion.  Why would I choose to walk in such a way when I have the luxury of shoes in my right hand?!  I respected her concern and placed my hiking sandals back on my feet…disappointed that I could not complete my experiment, but secretly thanking her for relieving the soles of my feet!!
As I walked the remainder of my hike with my machete holding friend close behind me, I felt the cushion of my sandals like never before!  They felt like a downcomforter hugging the bottoms of my feet.  Oh, how I had a whole new deep appreciation for the protective shield of my shoes.  A new bounce arrived to my step.  I thought of how I would never have experienced this appreciation for what I already have had I not tried living without it.
Though the soles of my feet were no longer in direct contact with the soul of God’s creation…my soul was.