Horses know when they are well shod. The farrier with his leather apron has been to see them. No longer are hard surfaces a problem. For a human being well shod means having boots, shoes, sandals, clogs, moccasins etc to protect the feet. That habit has become a vital part of the fashion business. Wellingtons suggest ownership of horses. Galoshes and spats were not a fashion event but an overshoe to protect the protectors.
Nowadays people take it for granted that we are better than well shod. We are beautifully shod. Women wear heels. Both sexes wear walking and running trainers. Most of us have a choice of footwear. ‘This is mainly a matter for the women’s department but men can choose brogues, suede or Oxford shoes or great galumphing boots.
Once we all had soles (they came with matching heels) They figured in popular sayings. Most of us have forgotten going to the cobbler and saying, ‘Sole and heel, please.’ Surprisingly perhaps shoe-laces remain with us., along with the word ‘eyelets’.
Life was full of heels rather than soles. On the way out is shoe-polish. To be down-at-heel is a sign of distress. Showing a clean pair of heels is making good an escape. ‘Heel’ is one of the few words a dog understands. Herding dogs know more than most. A drag shoe was a brake for a wooden wheel. A ship would heel under the influence of wind on sail. Nowadays we shoe-in a policy or person. That often carries with it the idea that somebody, somewhere is setting up the arrangement, not necessarily to our advantage.
And does the Bible have anything to say about all this? It does. ‘Your desire to tell the good news about peace should be like shoes on your feet (Ephesians 6.15 CEV). Two surprising things here: Christianity is good news about peace and it is the job of Christians to tell them so.
If horses know what it is to be well shod, can Christians be content to know less?
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