“How do you start this thing?” I asked. Diane said, “Push this down, pull the cord, and it’ll start.” Sure enough, it did. The “thing” was our lawnmower, which I haven’t used for years, if ever. A strange, un-American division of work in our family. I tend to theological matters, Seminary matters, think about God, but Diane does all the real work. I don’t even barbeque. How bad is that?
How often do we walk in someone else’s shoes? So I walked in her shoes, behind the lawnmower, and thought about all she does for our home and family. It called to mind Proverbs 31. “An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her.... She consider a field and buys it (or mows it); with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard (or plants flowers)…. A woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates” (10-11, 16, 30-31).
Might all life, not just marriage, but all our relationships be less contentious and more harmonious if we tried to walk in the other’s shoes? “Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them” (Matthew 7:12). Tomorrow morning I’m going to cut the back yard.
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