The adage, usually attributed to our indigenous brothers,
was actually written by Mary Lathrop in the 1870’s because of her contact with
various tribes during her ministry.
“Walk a mile in his moccasins” is meant to instill
temperance in our understanding of those we may disagree with or whom we simply
don’t understand. Imagining ourselves in the circumstance of others, will
result in a position of trust rather than one of fear. In today’s
climate, of separation and divisiveness we have allowed our society to be on
the verge of social cannibalization. Rather than seek commonality we
tend to magnify that which we reject and fear. Long before Ms.
Lathrops poem reached its final stanza, some 1800 years had passed since Christ
first instructed us, through his parables: “Let he, who is without sin cast
the first stone cast the first stone” and Judge not lest ye be judged.”
This seems to elicit the boundaries of common sense, you
would think, but not so fast Pilgrim (in keeping with the moccasin suggestion). We
apparently feel more normal when we have opponents.
We would do better, as individuals and as a herd, if we
understood each other better. To accomplish understanding we need to
listen rather than speak. You might even ask yourself to recall how
many times you experienced and felt the dismissive rejection of being ignored.
As adults it’s to easy to recall the feelings of being
told, as a child, to be quiet because you were unable to contribute anything substantial
in reality. Fortunately, some of us escape that syndrome and
actually attempt to bring us together into a unified effort to move toward a
common good.
Christ again supports the moccasin adage with his
commandment to “love your neighbor as you love yourself”. That also
creates a problem because many of us use other people’s perceptions to measure
our own self-worth. It really doesn’t take too many sour opinions,
of how your moccasins have made you appear to others, for the seeds of doubt
about yourself to grow. (This is not all bad because it has allowed
many, in the profession of psychiatry and counseling, to feed themselves and
their family.) So all of the above can be capsulated into, I don’t really like
or trust me so much so I probably don’t like and trust you so much. I
can justify that because you, don’t act, or look, or think, or dress, like
anyone I am familiar with. Mix that with all the outside influence,
of what other folks have said about you, our relationship will be adversarial.
The fact of the matter is that judging by hearsay leads to
what may be false beliefs fueled by gossip rather than truth. That
fact holds true for relationships with others and with ourselves.
There is a lot to be said in favor of pragmatic thought
going into the decisions that influence our lives. It’s kind of like
the difference between walking on solid ice or on the water that made the ice
possible.
Once we understand that our moccasins have taken us, (me),
on a path filled with a multitude of different experiences and that path has
led me to now, we are closer to understanding the other moccasins resident.
Understanding the path, we ourselves followed doesn’t imply
that we will like ourselves any better but it gives us the opportunity to
accept ourselves where we are in the now and remain the same or allows us to
understand and change those things that will enhance that acceptance.
So what advantage is there in walking a mile in the other
guys moccasins? It gives us a closer to fact basis about him, (or
her), for our basic fight, flight, or freeze form of action. We as
individuals need to be prudent and use intelligence when choosing our course of
agreement with others. There are times when things are not as they
seem no matter how much we would like them to be. It is our own
individual responsibility to practice discernment in our search for agreement.
PRAY UNCEASINGLY ON ALL THINGS AND LISTEN FOR GODS
RESPONSE, HIS VOICE MAY COME AS A WHISPER
