Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

• Luke 3:16

Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.

• Acts 7:33

You will not find shoes in the Bible, but sandals are a common thing.  The first Scripture is John the Baptist (Baptizer) who is not worthy to untie the sandals of Jesus.  The second is when Stephen is retelling the story about Moses having to remove his sandals for he was on holy ground.  That got me to thinking.  At my age, I might get the shoes off, but could I get them back on?  Especially when I left my shoehorn at home.

In a Mark Lowry comedy act, he bows his head and says something about needing his toenails clipped.  As he is staring at his feet he says, “I’m to that point in life when I have to ask, ‘Do I want to clip my toenails, or do I want to breathe.’”

I’m a little older than Mark Lowry.  I am that way about shoes.  I have sat down to put on my shoes and then grabbed my pants leg and went hand over hand until my foot was in reach to put the shoe on.  But my wife and I got some shoes a few years before she passed away.  They advertised that you could just step into the shoes, but it did not work like that.  The heal crushed every time.  So, I went out and bought two shoehorns that were two feet long.  It was not much bending over and we made it work.

So, the company came out with a new design – not apologizing for their past mistakes – and I thought there was no way that I would fall for their misleading advertisement twice.

But then the wholesale warehouse had them on sale.  I could try them out.  If they did not work, I did not have to buy them.

They worked great.

But there is one problem with them.  There is this silly string that ties the shoes together.  I am an old man, but now I have to walk like an old man.  Yikes!

Actually, when I saw the flexible chord that tied the shoes together, I wondered if there was a tag somewhere that said that you could not remove the tag under penalty of law.  You know, like the pillows.

Now do not tell me that you are bold and rebellious and you cut the tags off.  For all these decades since that law, if it is a law, came out, I have put the tag side in the pillow case first so that “Do not remove” tag is not seen, and thus will not scratch my chin.

Sure, the tag is probably there for the seller and the buyer can do anything he wants with it, but my eyesight is getting so bad, I can’t read the small print on the tag anymore.

But getting back to the shoes, I carefully untied the shoes.  If the shoe chord police knock on the door, I can retie the shoes before I open the door.

But now, if I get to a place that God says is holy ground…  I got the shoes to take care of that one.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.