Selma 50 years later: Remembering Bloody Sunday- please teach me to walk in your shoes...

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

In my closet are several pairs of shoes. Some new. Some looking like they should be discarded because of soles so thin that it causes pain when I walk on them. Behind every closet door are similar shoes belonging to people whose stories have never been validated.

Perhaps, we all need to learn how to walk in another person's shoes? To truly listen to another's pain without chastising them is perhaps the greatest gift we can give another human being.  

A few summers ago, my wife and I toured the civil rights museum in Selma, Alabama. As I read the stories of those who lived during that time, I felt tears flowing down my cheeks.  Perhaps, I was extra sensitive to their stories because of my upbringing in St. Louis Park, Minnesota which was the home of many Jewish holocaust survivors.  Perhaps it is because I was given a gift of being a good listener despite being born with a hearing loss?

So often, it seems, we are quick to discard people when a loss comes into their lives.  We want to live life as though our lives were a Disney movie.  We orchestrate our lives to include as many fun things that make us happy which means we avoid people that may rain on our parade.  

Yet, when we do this we are missing out on the greatest opportunity to validate others through the stories they share with us.

This is the beauty of following Jesus and allowing God's holy spirit to mold and guide us in our daily encounters with people; people whose stories need to be validated. You see, it is through listening and validating that God is able to heal those who hurt.  

Finally, to everyone who was harmed by the events that occurred in Selma, Alabama, or Nazi Germany, I want to acknowledge your pain and say how truly sorry I'm that you had to suffer that way.  

Please teach me how to walk in your shoes.