Using what we have

This morning I have helped a man move from one flat to another. I know this man through his coming to our Space2B and our Church drop-in centre where I play heaps of table tennis with him.  He is an intriguing guy. I have been amazed that even in winter he wears jandals (thongs, flip-flops) or bare feet. One day he mentioned that he had bought on line a new pair of basket ball shoes, but I began to think that the poor guy could not afford to buy shoes. Well today as I loaded his boxes into the back of my old Nissan I discovered he had boxes and bags of different varieties of basket ball shoes and most of them looked like they had never been worn! He loves basket ball and often spends hours shooting hoops etc. He would have enough shoes to last a lifetime, there were boxes of them. I think he enjoys the fun of buying bargains on line! It must be almost like an addiction. ... I guess people collect pens, spoons and Dinky toys so why can't he collect shoes?  The irony is that you hardly ever see him wearing shoes! I have seen him with snow outside, still in his jandals!

I got to thinking as I drove home that we are all like that. I recall a line that said "Most people are like riders of ten speed bikes - they still only use one gear." We often do not use the abilities we have, or our full compliment of creativity. We prefer to stay within our comfort zones and never extend ourselves. We have heaps of potential stored in boxes which we never wear. I also got to thinking about "spirituality". We religious people get involved in organised "religion" but often never truly "wear" our "spirituality". In theory we have lots of "shoes". There is a heap of spiritual wealth in the Christian faith, many connections and deep insights. In our living, however, they are like this man's shoes, stored in boxes, and they never truly become a part of who we are. We prefer to store our "truths" in tidy religious boxes, than "walk" in the truths we say we value.  They are part of our "religion" stuck on the edge of life, rather than our spirituality, in the core of our being. 


Just thinking out loud. It was interesting to see this barefoot man's collection of shoes.