Armor Up Part IV, Shoes

Other posts in this series can be read here, here, here and here.  

So far I've written about thinking of the armor of God as energy, the belt or girdle as connection to the lower dan tian, the fact that armor is just one letter away from amor or love, and the breastplate covering the heart, lungs and middle dan tian.

Now it's all about the shoes!

Shoes

                                              This picture appeared with this article.  

I have some friends (both males and females) whose closets resemble those of Imelda Marcos.  Shoes are fashion.  Shoes are personality.  Shoes are attitude.  Shoes make the ensemble.  Or so I'm told.  

Here's my take on shoes:  

Shoes that fit well and are comfortable (I have weird feet) are hard to find. Shoes that fit well and are comfortable are extremely expensive.  Shoes that fit well and are comfortable protect my feet.  Shoes that fit well and are comfortable actually affect the alignment (and therefore reduce the pain level) for my entire body.  

So basically, shoes are really important, and the kinds of shoes you wear matters.  

These are the shoes I currently own:

1.  Dansko slip-ons that I paid mega bucks for but have also worn almost every day for 3 years.  (Yes, they show it, but I haven't had the funds to buy new ones.)

2.  New Balance gym shoes.  Again, they cost an arm and a leg, but so worth it.  I wear them to workout or when I go on long walks.  

3.  Cheap black flats for tai chi.  I prefer a shoe for tai chi that feels like I'm not wearing a shoe. These took a long time to stretch out so they fit right.   

4.  Another pair of shoes (cheap) that I don't really like for either tai chi or working out, but I often keep them in the car as back-up.  They are better than working out in my socks.  

5.  Flip-flops (cheap) that are several years old that I only wear at the beach or lake.  I just can't do flip-flops.  I actually have trouble walking in them.  

6.   Organ shoes that were quite expensive when I bought them over 25 years ago.  There isn't a cheap substitute since organ shoes need a certain kind of heel and sole.  

7.  Extremely cute and extremely uncomfortable pumps that sit in my closet because I might wear them sometime (but I can't remember the last time I actually did.)

8.  A few pair of old shoes that I keep in case of emergencies.  

Shoes (or boots) provide protection/coverage for the feet, and ideally should be well-constructed, comfortable, and appropriate to the activity of the wearer.  And sometimes a good shoe will cost us.  

Feet

Cool stuff about the feet:

The alignment of your entire body is affected by how you balance your weight on your foot.  

In reflexology, it is believed that all points in the body are represented in the feet and therefore can be treated by working on the feet.  Similarly, in Traditional Chinese Medicine, it is believed that many meridians (pathways through which energy flows) either start or end in the feet.  It is through the Bubbling Well (a point on the bottom of the foot) that we draw earth energy up into the body and return negative energy or energy we don't need back to the earth to be recycled.

To walk is to move along a path.  Feet are how we move, how we progress.

Preparation

I actually love this word.  I love to prepare.  I love to organize.  I love the journey.  I love the process.  I love details.  

When I'm preparing for work, it involves creating lesson plans, handouts, charts, lists, schedules, etc.  It's about creating a body of information that I will then put to use when I work with my students.  In this case, preparation is doing.  

I used to think that preparing meant I had to set up everything so that there was no chance of anything going wrong.  I'm letting go of that.  I still want a back up plan for the back up plan, but I'm also learning that preparing means being flexible, having a plan, but also knowing how to deviate from it.  There is not just one path to the goal.  

When preparing to do tai chi, it is important to warm-up the body.  In the Tai Chi for Health programs there is a specific set of warm-ups that gets the body ready for the kind of movement that we will be doing.  But it doesn't have to be just a physical warm-up.  These exercises also prepare us for tai chi by helping us thinking about the tai chi principles.  I read a blog that referred to the warm-ups as principle practice.  Warm-ups also give us a chance to quiet the monkey mind, and get the mind and body functioning as one.  

Meditation (moving or still) is also preparation.  Here, preparation is comes through non-doing.  Through a simple repetitive pattern or stillness, we let go of the need to think and analyze and work. We learn to be.  

The preparation that comes through doing protects us because preparation provides pathways.  It gives us options.  It opens doors.  

The preparation that comes from stillness and meditation opens other doors like insight, awareness, and confidence.

Gospel

Gospel literally means "good news".  When we refer to the gospels of the Bible and apocrypha, we mean those books that tell the story of the life and mission of Christ.  I believe the mission of Christ to be primarily one of empathy and compassion.  At the heart of the atonement is the message of love.

Peace

The Merriam-Webster online dictionary included these definitions of peace:

: a state in which there is no war or fighting
: a state of tranquillity or quiet
: freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions
: harmony in personal relations

I love the paragraph that begins the wikipedia entry on peace.  

Peace is an occurrence of harmony characterized by lack of violence, conflict behaviors and the freedom from fear of violence. Commonly understood as the absence of hostility and retribution, peace also suggests sincere attempts at reconciliation, the existence of healthy or newly healed interpersonal or international relationships, prosperity in matters of social or economic welfare, the establishment of equality, and a working political order that serves the true interests of all.

Peace is about how we relate to others, but it is also that calm awareness that who we are as individuals and what we think and feel matters.  Peace comes when our actions are aligned with our beliefs.  Peace is healing, healing our own lives, healing others, healing that comes through Christ. I believe that at it's core, peace is just love.

"And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;"

In the middle of the war analogy sits the most precious truth, which is peace.  We are ready to share the good news of the ultimate harmony and healing.  Like a Wei Qi, field it is both our personal protection and how we interact with others.  

I was just reviewing the key words I discussed in this post and realized that this is far from the only time that "feet" and "gospel of peace" are linked in the scriptures. And yes, I remembered these scriptures because these phrases have been set to music.

How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
Romans 10:15

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!
Isaiah 52:7

Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace!
Nahum 1:15

15 And O how beautiful upon the mountains were their feet!
16 And again, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those that are still publishing peace!
17 And again, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those who shall hereafter publish peace, yea, from this time henceforth and forever!
18 And behold, I say unto you, this is not all. For O how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that is the founder of peace, yea, even the Lord, who has redeemed his people; yea, him who has granted salvation unto his people;
Mosiah 15:16-18

And then shall they say: How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings unto them, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings unto them of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion: Thy God reigneth!
3 Ne 20:40

Now, what do we hear in the gospel which we have received? A voice of gladness! A voice of mercy from heaven; and a voice of truth out of the earth; glad tidings for the dead; a voice of gladness for the living and the dead; glad tidings of great joy. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those that bring glad tidings of good things, and that say unto Zion: Behold, thy God reigneth! As the dews of Carmel, so shall the knowledge of God descend upon them!
D&C 128:19

"How Beautiful Upon the Mountains"

"How Beautiful are the Feet" 

Peace itself can be both action and stillness, but the spreading of it requires our feet.  It requires moving forward, speaking, and doing.  

And again, my big take away from studying this piece of armor is this:

In the middle of the war analogy sits the most precious truth, which is peace.