Thinking about feet on the feast of the Ascension

This morning while I was praying I was looking down abstractedly and saw my feet. It got me thinking about feet. We take our feet for granted don't we? How many times do we think with gratitude about the gift of our feet? I can't say I think about them much at all. And yet, the first thing I do in the morning is sit up in bed with my feet on the floor and then stand up. Think of the gift of balance and say thank you to your feet...and your toes. Your balance would be seriously affected if your big toe was amputated. 

Chesterton has an essay on gratitude that talks about giving thanks not only for the Christmas stockings but for the legs that fill those stockings. Every one of our body parts from the highest and most dignified to the lowest and least is part of a person's "universe." How much we should appreciate every part of our body, a magnificent sculpture of God.

We tend to think about our hearts and minds, but how many think about feet? And yet feet are important in the Bible. "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings." (Is 52:7) Jesus praised Mary for anointing His feet. He washed the feet of the disciples. And we hear this in the psalms. "The Lord said to my Lord: Sit thou at my right hand: Until I make thy enemies thy footstool." (Ps 110:1) 

At the funeral of a friend, her daughter described a favorite saying of her mom:

Life is hard by the yard, but a cinch by the inch.

Ah, yes, baby steps! The lamp described in the Bible was a little bowl of oil with a wick that shed only enough light for the next step. We need to take those baby steps with feet eager to walk in the bloody footprints of Jesus. 

And note in the drawing above that the last thing the apostles saw as Jesus ascended into heaven were the pierced feet of the Lord: not His head, not His hands, but His feet. I think there's a message there.

Teach me, O Lord, to walk in Your ways wherever You lead me -- whether through gardens of delight or over brambles and thorns, whether in celestial light or in gloomy darkness. Let my feet be guided by my head and my heart and help me to always walk in Your footsteps.

May Jesus Christ be praised.