If the Shoe Fits
I was once a director of a youth puppet group at a small church that was close to where I lived. Although I have worked with youth before in other churches, this might have been the best group of kids I ever worked with. They were fun. They listened and were eager to learn and they performed really well. Each one of them still holds a special place in my heart.
One of the hardest things about getting close to someone is to have something bad happen to them. It’s almost like a part of you hurts, too. I’m not sure how I came to hear of it, but one day, a couple of years after I left that puppet group and that church, one of the young girls from that group died in a car crash. She had not even graduated from high school. I was so heart broken.
His Dad’s name was Jack and they lived in a small town when he was growing up. Even in a small town people have dreams and his Dad was no exception. His Dad’s dream was to own a shoe store. It wasn’t just any shoe store his Dad wanted to own, he wanted to own the biggest shoe store in Illinois outside of Chicago. They even moved to Chicago when he was only two years old and his Dad took a very promising job at Marshall Field’s department store selling shoes. Two years later Jack was offered a job 140 miles away in Galesburg at O. T. Johnson’s, a big department store. When he entered first grade his Dad took another job in Monmouth, Illinois at another department store. The cycle was complete not long after that when his father moved back to Tampico and took a job at the store, H. C. Pitney General Store, where Jack worked when he was born. His Dad was offered the job of managing that store.
Mr. Pitney, who owned the H. C. Pitney General Store promised Jack as soon as he could he would try to help Jack by making him a partner in another store. Soon after World War I ended Mr. Pitney decided to open a store in Dixon, Illinois with Jack as his partner. It would be a plush shoe store called the Fashion Boot Shop.
As Jesus traveled across the land he came in contact with many people. With some of those people He developed close relationships. We notice this because they get mentioned a few times in the Bible. Of course we have the disciples and Jesus’ family getting mentioned several times. But there is a group of siblings that gets quite a few mentions, too. It is a brother and two sisters. The brother is the oldest. The middle sister seems to be the one who ran around trying to make sure everything runs smoothly. The younger sister, the baby of the family, seem to be the one more prone to the ponderings and emotions of life.
The middle sister also seemed to be the more practical member of the family. In the Bible she scolds her younger sister for “wasting money.” All in all, they seem to be a very close knit family that cared very much for one another.
Jack, our President’s Dad, had his dream fulfilled as he worked at the Fashion Boot Shop as a partner. It must be so satisfying to work so long and so hard for something and then finally see that dream realized. Our President was off to college and that was probably something Jack thought someone of their financial position would never see, either. Everything was looking so very bright.
Then as the 1930s rolled in, it brought with it the winds of The Great Depression. Little towns like Dixon, Illinois didn’t stand a chance with its force. As quickly as his Dad’s dream became a reality, it ended. The Fashion Boot Shop was forced to close. Just like that, there were no jobs anywhere and if you don’t have a job you don’t need shoes nor can you afford new shoes.
When a job was found, during The Great Depression, it was sometimes very far from where your family lived. You would have to take it because there were no other choices. Such was the case for Jack. He found a job in Springfield at a chain store shoe outlet, 200 miles from his wife and home in Dixon, Illinois. Jack was the only clerk in this little outlet store.
Dutch (his nickname) and Moon (his brother, Neil’s, nickname) both went to Eureka College where they both played football. One day Eureka College had a football game in Springfield and he talked the coach into letting Moon and him go see their Dad for a few hours. They found the store in a little rundown neighborhood of the town. The store was a “grim, tiny hole-in-the-wall” outlet. The store only had one piece of furniture which was a wooden bench where the customers were fitted for shoes. As Ronald Reagan looked around at this dive he remembered all the hard work his Dad had put into his dream and now this is where he ended up. Ronald was filled with sorrow and had to turn away as the tears filled his eyes.
Martha and Mary sent out a message to Jesus that their brother, Lazarus, was very sick and that they needed Him to come quickly to heal him. Jesus finally arrived, but it was too late, for Lazarus had died. Martha, the older sister, was the first to greet Jesus. She questioned Jesus as to why He didn’t come sooner. Mary almost goes as far as to say that it is Jesus’ fault that Lazarus died. After all, if he had arrived sooner He could have healed him.
It is here that we witness the shortest verse in the Bible: “Jesus wept.” Then Mary takes him to Lazarus’ tomb. Jesus asked that the stone in front of this tomb be rolled away. Martha objects but they move the stone anyway. Then Jesus commands Lazarus to come forth and out walks Lazarus alive.
Why did Jesus weep? Was He sorry that Mary and Martha felt that way or that they were hurting so much? Was He sorry he didn’t get back in time to heal Lazarus before he died? Personally, I don’t believe it was any of those reasons. Jesus knew from the beginning that He could raise someone from the dead. He had done that before. He also knew that once Mary and Martha saw Lazarus alive they would “get over” their sadness. I believe Jesus wept because He knew Lazarus was in a perfect place and he was going to have to bring him back to a less perfect place. I believe Jesus did not weep for Mary or Martha, but that He wept for Lazarus.
One of the hardest things in this life is to see loved ones go through hard times or die. Our pain can be so intense. It is through this pain that we really understand how much we really care for that person.
Prayer: Father, As I think about all those for whom my heart has hurt I’m reminded that maybe my heart hasn’t hurt enough. I don’t want anything bad to happen to those I love, but maybe I should extend my heart to more people and feel their pain, too. Amen.
