My parable of the big toe.
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Whilst visiting friends near Aldershot England many years ago, one friend joked, upon seeing my big toe, that it was the biggest toe he’d ever seen and then called it a dinosaur toe.
My wife occasionally likes to continue this name. Now I don’t think my big toe is particularly large, but it definitely isn’t the most attractive thing in the world either. But then again, whose toes are?
Very few people find toes attractive or have nice looking toes themselves. This makes sense considering most toes spend much of their lifetime hidden away in a dark, humid shoe.
To be honest, I pay my toes very little attention. That was until one day whilst renovating our home in Utah, I knocked over our table top that was resting against the wall on its side, which came crashing down on my big toe.
As you can see from the picture, it hurt… and I’ll let you be the judge about the size of it. :)
Suddenly I realized how important my big toe was. Walking and working was uncomfortable, and painful sometimes, and it took some time before I returned to normal mobility.
Big toes rarely receive the time, attention and accolades that other parts of the body receive. I’ve been complimented on my smile, but never my toes. I trim my beard at least once each week, I trim my toe nails twice a year if they’re lucky.
It can be easy to forget and neglect our big toe until it gets hurt or damaged. Suddenly we realize that our big toe is equal in value to the rest of the body. What good is a great smile or well kept beard if it’s painful and difficult to walk.
People come in all shapes and sizes. We only have to look around our families and congregations to see that there are some big toes and beautiful smiles. It is easy to focus on and praise those people who are obviously good, talented or gifted.
But what about the big toes? The people who quietly go about doing good, who aren’t charismatic leaders but lift where they stand. I must confess that I have not been so good at appreciating my own big toe nor the ‘big toe’ people I have occasion to interact with.
But we need the big toes! They bring as much to our community and congregations as anyone else. If the big toes were injured or stopped working, we would very quickly and obviously feel the difference.
Rather than waiting until something goes wrong, perhaps we should do more now to appreciate those people who might not be leaders, teachers or lime-lighters.
Tomorrow is Sunday… perhaps we can all look around your congregation and identify the big toes and then make it a point to reach out to them, show interest in their lives and make them feel welcome and appreciated.
Because Jesus needs all of us, even the big toes!
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