Did you know your feet can symbolize your spirituality?
After several foot surgeries, I discovered it is only when we no longer have healthy feet that we learn their importance.
Feet were important in biblical times. Joshua talks about putting one’s foot on someone’s neck as a conquering act. He also says, "Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, to you have I given it..." All belongs to us!
The Metaphysical Dictionary of the Bible says our feet represent our contact with earth, with the material things of life. When Jesus washed the disciples' feet, he washed away the material aspect, allowing them to connect with the spiritual aspect. Washing someone’s feet can become a ritual where you clear up any discord.
Another reference has to do with grabbing someone's feet as an act of respect, honor, humbleness. We talk about sitting at someone's feet to learn, to be a disciple.
A friend can “read toes!” Since she explained it, I look at people's toes in order to try out my newfound knowledge.
Our little toe represents "Earth," the physical stuff - buildings we put up, space we need for our worship celebrations. It's our money situation, how we create it, how we use it. It’s how we use our bodies, whether we embrace others or force them away.
If the little toe represents physical hugs, our fourth toe represents our heart connections, or “Emotion.”
Can we look each other in the eye lovingly? Are we compassionate? Do we have time for each other when someone is hurting? Or are we so busy running fast that we don't have time to connect? If we neglect these first two toes, there's no foundation.
Our middle toe is "Fire," our passion. Is your passion focused? Even if we say all the right words, do we say them with passion? This toe is also our creativity, but we can't let it become overdeveloped without the grounding. Do we use our fire to make heart connections so that the middle toe almost climbs over the others?
The second toe represents "Air," the mental - our ideas, our mind, our intellect. Do we become involved in study? Do we need to be more intellectual? My second toe has become "fixed" since my surgeries, so I think about it in terms of how I'm "fixed" in my stuff. Because my second toe is clogged and swollen, it must represent too many books in my personal library!
Our big toe is “Spirituality.” In Leviticus, a ram was slaughtered for the ordaining of priests. Moses took some of the blood, put it on the right ear lobes of Aaron and Aaron's sons, on the thumb of their right hands, and on the big toe of their right feet, before dashing it on the sides of the altar! Is our spirituality floating out there, not really grounded with the rest of our life?
There's other stuff to help in reading your toes.
If your toes are curled under, they are grasping in fear, trying to hold on. When one toe leans on another, it is coming over to help the next one.
If our feet stink, does that mean our foundations stink? When one toe doesn't touch the ground, that aspect isn't grounded yet. Work on those areas by massaging your own feet to get them to change and open up.
Everyone's feet, toes, are different between the left and the right.
The LEFT foot represents what you’ve received in the past. If the second toe is wider, you emphasize the intellectual stuff. Have we taken it in and used it, or blocked it?
The RIGHT foot represents what's going on now, how to express it in the future. It's time for some new visioning. Have you become stuck?
Your LEFT foot may show that you’ve been open to new ideas before, but does your RIGHT foot show that you are still open?
Our feet are our foundation, so they reflect UP. They are also our grounding, reflecting DOWN. In Oriental Medicine the characters for humanity show us as the connector between heaven and earth.
God said to Moses: “Take off your shoes, for you are standing on holy ground." By taking off our shoes, nothing comes between us and our connection between God and earth. And that burning bush - are we being consumed by the Holy Spirit , or are we simply being consumed?
Do we take time to stand on Holy Ground? Are we stuck somewhere? Are we so fragmented that we never take time to stand on holy ground? Don't let anything stand between you and your grounding. Keep the head and feet and heart connected. Take off your shoes, for the ground on which you stand is HOLY!
So what is the point of all this? It is about Community, about connecting.
St. Paul talks about the feet being a part of the Body of Christ, and how we can't do without them. The head doesn't say to the feet, "I have no need of you." We can become disembodied at times, head separated from feet. We can get too disjointed.
During this month of January, 2008, give yourself and one other person a foot massage. It can be the most transforming thing you do. A well-done foot massage makes your whole body feel better. Since all of your "stuff" reflects right down where your feet are, this is a practical "baby step" toward transforming the world, one person at a time.
What is your footprint in this world?
After several foot surgeries, I discovered it is only when we no longer have healthy feet that we learn their importance.
Feet were important in biblical times. Joshua talks about putting one’s foot on someone’s neck as a conquering act. He also says, "Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, to you have I given it..." All belongs to us!
The Metaphysical Dictionary of the Bible says our feet represent our contact with earth, with the material things of life. When Jesus washed the disciples' feet, he washed away the material aspect, allowing them to connect with the spiritual aspect. Washing someone’s feet can become a ritual where you clear up any discord.
Another reference has to do with grabbing someone's feet as an act of respect, honor, humbleness. We talk about sitting at someone's feet to learn, to be a disciple.
A friend can “read toes!” Since she explained it, I look at people's toes in order to try out my newfound knowledge.
Our little toe represents "Earth," the physical stuff - buildings we put up, space we need for our worship celebrations. It's our money situation, how we create it, how we use it. It’s how we use our bodies, whether we embrace others or force them away.
If the little toe represents physical hugs, our fourth toe represents our heart connections, or “Emotion.”
Can we look each other in the eye lovingly? Are we compassionate? Do we have time for each other when someone is hurting? Or are we so busy running fast that we don't have time to connect? If we neglect these first two toes, there's no foundation.
Our middle toe is "Fire," our passion. Is your passion focused? Even if we say all the right words, do we say them with passion? This toe is also our creativity, but we can't let it become overdeveloped without the grounding. Do we use our fire to make heart connections so that the middle toe almost climbs over the others?
The second toe represents "Air," the mental - our ideas, our mind, our intellect. Do we become involved in study? Do we need to be more intellectual? My second toe has become "fixed" since my surgeries, so I think about it in terms of how I'm "fixed" in my stuff. Because my second toe is clogged and swollen, it must represent too many books in my personal library!
Our big toe is “Spirituality.” In Leviticus, a ram was slaughtered for the ordaining of priests. Moses took some of the blood, put it on the right ear lobes of Aaron and Aaron's sons, on the thumb of their right hands, and on the big toe of their right feet, before dashing it on the sides of the altar! Is our spirituality floating out there, not really grounded with the rest of our life?
There's other stuff to help in reading your toes.
If your toes are curled under, they are grasping in fear, trying to hold on. When one toe leans on another, it is coming over to help the next one.
If our feet stink, does that mean our foundations stink? When one toe doesn't touch the ground, that aspect isn't grounded yet. Work on those areas by massaging your own feet to get them to change and open up.
Everyone's feet, toes, are different between the left and the right.
The LEFT foot represents what you’ve received in the past. If the second toe is wider, you emphasize the intellectual stuff. Have we taken it in and used it, or blocked it?
The RIGHT foot represents what's going on now, how to express it in the future. It's time for some new visioning. Have you become stuck?
Your LEFT foot may show that you’ve been open to new ideas before, but does your RIGHT foot show that you are still open?
Our feet are our foundation, so they reflect UP. They are also our grounding, reflecting DOWN. In Oriental Medicine the characters for humanity show us as the connector between heaven and earth.
God said to Moses: “Take off your shoes, for you are standing on holy ground." By taking off our shoes, nothing comes between us and our connection between God and earth. And that burning bush - are we being consumed by the Holy Spirit , or are we simply being consumed?
Do we take time to stand on Holy Ground? Are we stuck somewhere? Are we so fragmented that we never take time to stand on holy ground? Don't let anything stand between you and your grounding. Keep the head and feet and heart connected. Take off your shoes, for the ground on which you stand is HOLY!
So what is the point of all this? It is about Community, about connecting.
St. Paul talks about the feet being a part of the Body of Christ, and how we can't do without them. The head doesn't say to the feet, "I have no need of you." We can become disembodied at times, head separated from feet. We can get too disjointed.
During this month of January, 2008, give yourself and one other person a foot massage. It can be the most transforming thing you do. A well-done foot massage makes your whole body feel better. Since all of your "stuff" reflects right down where your feet are, this is a practical "baby step" toward transforming the world, one person at a time.
What is your footprint in this world?
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